


On Edge

by BettyHT



Series: On [3]
Category: Bonanza
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-29
Updated: 2018-09-29
Packaged: 2019-07-19 00:19:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 37,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16129673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BettyHT/pseuds/BettyHT
Summary: Follows On the Run:  Adam and Elaine have a number of issues to face together in this story as they get to know each other better. They always have the support of the rest of the family though whether they are facing Elaine's disapproving father, fighting in court over Jon's custody, or working to keep everyone in the family safe. Violence, and racist opinions of a character are included.





	On Edge

On Edge

Chapter 1

Shivering with the cold, Elaine snuggled into Adam's embrace except he wasn't that warm either. The two of them had been out collecting more pine boughs to decorate the house when a sudden strong windstorm had come up. It had been futile trying to get back to the ranch house with the wind blown snow creating near zero visibilities. Pulling into a copse of pines, Adam had used the boughs they had collected to construct a quick windscreen for the horse before climbing into the sleigh and snuggling under the blanket with her. It wasn't enough though as both of them had been covered with snow from the blustery winds and had damp clothing as a result. They were trying to talk about things that would keep their minds off their predicament until they could do something about it.

"Where are we going to spend our honeymoon?" Adam had mentioned it a few times without being specific. Usually it had to do with what he wanted to do when the two of them were alone, but Elaine wondered where that was going to be.

"I would love to take you to San Francisco. We could see plays, go to the theatre, picnic at the ocean, and do all sorts of wonderful things together. But we can't."

"Yes, you can't leave Jon alone that long. He still worries when you're not here by late afternoon. His first thought is always that something bad happened."

"Do you have any ideas?"

"Perhaps a night in town?"

Thinking that over, Adam began to smile. "Maybe we could spend several Saturday nights in town. Jon would be all right with us gone only one day per week. We could go in early on Saturday, do some shopping, have lunch and dinner, and then have the whole night to ourselves in the hotel. We could meet everyone at church the next morning and go back home."

"That sounds promising, but how about if we skip the shopping and have our lunch and dinner in the room?"

Now that made Adam smile even more except he felt Elaine shivering even more. The temperature had dropped precipitously. "I would like to rub your back and get you warmer, but I'm afraid my hands are cold too so that would likely only make things worse."

"Adam, we're not going to die out here, are we?"

"Of course not. The weather will change soon so we can head home. By now, Hop Sing is cooking up some broth for us, and he probably is already heating water for a bath."

"Oh that sounds good. It will be the best broth and the best bath ever."

For Elaine's benefit, Adam chuckled a bit, but he was thinking that they were in dire straits and he could only hope that his prediction of a quick break in the weather was true. He knew his family would be worried and likely would look for them as soon as they could, but no one could venture out into this maelstrom. For nearly another hour, they snuggled together and tried to make the best of it. Snow piled up around them and actually helped by blocking the wind, but they had nothing to generate any more heat.

Finally the winds began to diminish. Adam knew they couldn't wait. He left Elaine wrapped in the blanket and set out to clear the boughs and snow from the horse who seemed to have survived reasonably well although the look he gave Adam was angry. Adam climbed back into the sleigh and did his best to grab the reins and get the sleigh moving again. He was shivering and his hands were so stiff and cold that he couldn't feel the reins, but they were moving again albeit slowly. After about a half hour, Adam nearly had tears in his eyes when he saw Hoss approaching with a logging sled. They had one at home to move some logs and had used it the day before to bring in a Christmas tree for decorating. Hoss saw them and raised a hand in greeting. Then Adam saw his father and Joe stand up behind Hoss.

The logging sled made better progress through the snow than the sleigh did and reached them quickly. When Hoss pulled up next to the sleigh, Adam and Elaine were helped to the sled. Normally catching their brother in a predicament would have had Joe and Hoss teasing him unmercifully, but it was clear that both Adam and Elaine were in danger from the cold. The three men worked quickly to help Adam and Elaine sit on the sled, and Joe climbed into the sleigh as Ben sat beside Adam and Elaine with Hoss driving the team that was pulling the sled.

Ben wrapped blankets around the couple and offered them a canteen of warm coffee. It had been hot when they left the house, but the air was frigid and had cooled it somewhat. It was still a lifesaver, and Adam and Elaine took turns drinking from the canteen. Adam had to hold it because Elaine's hands were too stiff in her wet gloves to manage. Seeing that, Ben pulled her gloves from her hands and slipped his soft warm leather gloves on her hands before stuffing his hands in his pockets to keep them warm. Seeing Elaine still shivering despite being wrapped in a blanket with Adam, Ben moved beside her and wrapped his arms around her adding his warmth and shielding her from more of the cold. Behind them, Joe brought the sleigh home in the wide track the sled made.

Once they got to the house, Adam helped Elaine to the house and directly to the washroom. As predicted, Hop Sing had a warm bath already to go. Elaine still couldn't do much with her hands so Adam helped her undress. In any other circumstance, that would have been highly arousing, but his concern for her welfare effectively dampened his ardor. He helped her step into the tub and sit before leaving the room only to get a large mug of hot tea from Hop Sing who ordered him to deliver it to Elaine. She was reclining in the tub letting the warmth seep in and her eyes were closed. Adam stopped at the door for a moment savoring the view before softly calling her name. Her response let him know she would be fine.

"Are you some kind of pervert who has to get his thrills watching a woman bathe?"

"On any other day, I would be inclined to say yes, but today, I am only concerned with your welfare. I'm back because Hop Sing insists that you drink this. I'm sure there will be a substantial hot meal whenever you're ready to come out of there."

"Right now, I wouldn't mind at all if you joined me in here. Don't you need to warm up too?"

"Woman, you are torturing me now. Yes, I need to warm up. But Hop Sing has his big washtub full of warm water for me. I'll be fine. Now you drink your tea and stop teasing me." Adam leaned down to kiss her softly taking any potential sting from his words. He left for his own bath wishing as Elaine did that they could have shared the large washtub. As he sat in the warm water that banished the last of his chills, his father came in to talk with him.

"You didn't see anything coming out there?"

"No, and it wasn't because I wasn't paying attention. We were on the opposite side of the trees and didn't feel it until it hit. It blew down out of the high mountains without any warning. I tried to get home, but it was hopeless, so I protected the horse as well as I could, and we did our best to sit it out. Your rescue was just in time. Thank you so much. Elaine was getting much too cold, and I couldn't help her."

"Hoss wanted to go for you as soon as it hit, but I told him we could never find you in those conditions. We hadn't realized what was happening until branches hit the house. It put a damper on our holiday spirits until we saw the two of you in that sleigh headed home. Jon wants to know if he can join you in the tub."

"Ah, sure, but this one is a tight squeeze. It might be better if I get out, and he gets in as soon as he's ready."

"Are you warm enough?"

"Yes, with the exertion, the hot tea, and the bath, I'm fine. I wouldn't mind a warm blanket to throw around my shoulders though."

Smiling, Ben left to take care of those two things. Within ten minutes, he was back with Jon who immediately started shucking his clothing. Ben had clean clothing for Jon as well as for Adam, and a nice big quilt, which he laid on the bench next to the laundry tub. Adam stood up and lifted his son into the tub before he stepped out. He toweled dry, dressed, and wrapped the quilt around his shoulders as he waited for Jon to get tired of splashing in the tub. Jon enjoyed bathing as much as Adam did so it was never a problem getting him into the tub. It could however be a problem getting him out. This time Adam called time because he said he needed Jon out and dressed so that Adam could go help Elaine.

"But Papa, she's a woman. You're not supposed to see a woman in her bath. That's what you told me when I asked Elaine if I could have a bath with her last week. You said she got to have her bath first, and then I could have one because men and women aren't supposed to be in the washroom together."

"This is different because she was too cold. I have to go make sure she is all right. When Elaine and I get married, then it will be all right too."

"It's all right for you to see her without her clothes when you marry her? Why?"

Walking back into the kitchen to see how things were going, Ben was surprised and then smiled when he heard the conversation between father and son because Adam had talked himself into a corner. Ben was familiar with that situation after raising three sons especially Adam who had been very curious as a boy and often asked him such questions. After Adam, it was a lot easier with the other two. Adam saw him smiling and knew how much his father was probably enjoying this.

"Grandpa probably knows that answer. I have to go see if Elaine is all right."

"Oh, no, that is a question that fathers need to explain to sons. Jon can wait until you have time. I'll help him towel dry and dress while you see to Elaine."

With a shake of his head, Adam went into the washroom. Elaine was resting against the tub with her eyes closed. Standing quietly, Adam admired his fiancée. Within a few days, they would be married so he could see her like this every day. Assuming it was Adam and wondering why he didn't say anything, Elaine slowly opened her eyes and looked over to see him. Then it was her turn to smile. She could tell that he wanted her and that filled her heart with joy. She still worried that somehow the mistakes she had made would intervene and end any thought he had of marrying her. But with the lusty look, there was also a gentle loving look, which reassured her of his love for her. He stepped closer and held his hands out for her to help her from the tub. Nothing was said as she stood and then stepped over the side of the tub. Adam released her hands and reached for a large towel, which he used to dry her.

"A few hours ago, I was worried I might not survive. Now I'm wondering if we can last another few days before we marry. I can tell what you want to do and I want to do that too."

"I'll be fine." As Elaine reached to touch him, Adam grabbed her wrist. "Oh no, you will wait too. Our wedding night is still going to be special. Now I'll help you get dressed." Slipping a chemise over her head, Adam was able to start getting some control over his desires especially once she pulled up pantaloons and tied them at her waist. He knew now that the next few days were going to very difficult to endure. With that image in his mind of a naked Elaine lounging in the tub imprinted on his mind, he would have a difficult time thinking of anything else when she was around.

Through dinner and then later lounging on the settee in front of the fireplace, Elaine kept a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She wasn't sure she would ever be warm again. Jon and Adam played chess with Elaine whispering instructions to Jon, which made the match between father and son last a lot longer. Finally it was time for bed, and Adam picked Elaine up to carry her to bed.

"Adam, I can walk."

"Yeah, older brother, you're supposed to wait for the honeymoon to carry her up the stairs."

"Hoss, he's just practicing or maybe trying to see if his old bones can manage it. At his age, he might need some help."

Smiling, Ben enjoyed the banter. He knew that often his sons let each other know with their playful teasing that everything was all right and that they loved each other. The scowl Adam gave them only added to their enjoyment. Jon asked his father if he needed help, and Hoss guffawed with that as Joe nearly fell on the floor laughing.  
"Papa, why are they laughing? I don't know what's funny."

"That shows how intelligent you are, Jon. It isn't funny, but my brothers don't know that even if you do."

"Papa, how do you get brothers? I'd like some too."

With that, Elaine began giggling on Adam's shoulder, and even Ben started laughing. It was a great release of tension, but brought more questions from Jon.

"Papa, why is everybody laughing? And what's funny about me wanting brothers?"

"Jon, you and I will talk about this sometime when there's no audience."

"What's an audience?"

"People who just sit and listen without adding anything to the conversation. Now let's get up to bed before there's any more commentary."

Adam needed to get moving too as his arms were getting tired holding Elaine, and there was no possible way he wanted to admit that. Adam deposited Elaine on the bed in her room before going with Jon to his room. He read a story until Jon's eyes began to droop. Pulling the blanket up to his son's chest, Adam kissed him on the cheek and then walked to his room. In passing Elaine's room, there was no light showing at the bottom of her door. He assumed that she had fallen asleep quickly. In his room, he stripped down and slipped under the covers falling into a restless sleep with dreams about snow and cold.

Chapter 2

"Papa, I'm scared. I thought you were never coming back."

Waking slowly, Jon's words slowly permeated Adam's thought processes. "Why? I'm right here. I haven't been gone for a very long time."

"You were gone today and I heard Uncle Hoss tell Grandpa that you might be in a lot of trouble. Then when the storm was over, they all went looking for you, but they wouldn't let me go too."

"Jon, I'm fine. I was cold, but I was coming home when they found us. Elaine was very cold, but you saw me walk in the house with her. I was fine."

"Are you sure? Sometimes people tell me that everything is fine even when it isn't. Why do people lie to kids like that?"

"We don't want you to worry too much. Jon, when you get upset like that, you need to tell me or tell Grandpa. We'll be honest with you. Now, it's late and tomorrow we have a lot of work to do. Why don't you crawl in here with me so you can get some sleep."

"Well, Grandpa says I need to sleep in my own room. He says I'm a big boy now."

"Well, how about if you sleep here so you can help me sleep? I was having some bad dreams, but I think I won't have any more if you sleep beside me. I think that would be all right with Grandpa at least this one time."

"All right. If you need me, I'll sleep here." Jon scampered into the bed as soon as Adam threw back the covers. Adam wrapped an arm around his son, and Jon closed his eyes and was soon asleep. With a slight smile, Adam closed his eyes into a much more restful sleep at least for about an hour. Then he felt pressure on the bed beside him and opened his eyes to find Elaine sitting there wrapped in a blanket.

Elaine leaned over to whisper to him. "I thought maybe I could sleep beside you for some comfort. I keep having these awful dreams. But it looks like someone beat me to it."

"You can stay here too, but you need to lay on top of the covers. I'm not wearing anything. If you need it, there's another blanket at the foot of the bed."

"Thank you. For tonight, that would be wonderful." Elaine lay beside him and rested her head against his shoulder pulling both blankets over her. Relaxing then, she knew that even though she was still a bit chilled and she could hear the wind blowing again outside, she felt safe with Adam. She always felt safe with Adam. Soon she was asleep too but not before Adam had closed his eyes and drifted back into a peaceful sleep. A few times that night, one of them would awake to find comfort in the one next to them and in the warmth of the room as the logs in the fireplace burned down to a bed of hot coals.

In the morning as Ben walked by Adam's room, he saw the three of them sleeping together because Elaine had not closed the door tightly the night before. At first, a bit surprised, Ben had to smile. The three of them were a family already in many ways. He looked forward to the wedding and having them united in marriage. He suspected they were having a very difficult time waiting until their wedding night and had to give them credit for managing to wait so far, but he wondered if they could manage another two days. It didn't matter too much any more to Ben knowing that in two days they would be husband and wife. It did matter to Adam though.

Jon woke last and looked up to see his father and Elaine looking at him. He smiled as they smiled before realizing he had a pressing need. "I have to go pee."

"Then clean up and get dressed. We'll all be down to breakfast soon or Grandpa will be upset."

With that, Jon scampered from the bed and out the door closing it behind him as he had been taught to do. Elaine thought to take advantage of the situation and moved her hand under the blanket hoping to try to induce Adam to a romantic morning. She didn't get the chance as Adam grabbed her wrist and pulled it free of the covers.

"No. I want our wedding night to be special. I want to remember it as the beginning of our lives together. It's very difficult for me so please don't make it worse."

"What about my past?"

"I have a past too. I have done things that now make me cringe. I want to be a better person to be a better husband to you and a better father to Jon. I can't let the darker side of me take over. It isn't a pleasant sight."

"Can you really forgive me for what I did?"

"I didn't know you then. You hurt yourself and no one else. Yes, of course, I can forgive you that. Can you forgive me then for things I've done?"

"I don't know of anything that needs forgiving, but if you feel you need it, then I forgive you too. I love you."

"I love you too, but we really do need to get up and get dressed before Pa or someone else sees us together like this."

"Why? You're under the covers and I'm on top of the covers."

"In my bed in my room."

"Ah, yes, that could be seen as something else, couldn't it. I'll go. But, may I have a kiss first, kind sir?"

Grabbing her wrist again, Adam leaned over to kiss her, but had to wait until she finished chuckling. "Adam, you don't trust me?"

"About almost everything, yes. About that, no."

With a final chuckle, Elaine left his room to return to her own. She was warm again, happy, and deeply in love. She had the feeling that nothing could ruin her good mood. That only lasted though until they all sat down to breakfast. As they were chatting and enjoying another of Hop Sing's sumptious meals, there was a knock on the door. Hoss went to answer the door and came back with a telegram for Adam. He opened it, and his whole demeanor changed as he read it.

"Adam, what is it? You're scaring me by the way you look."

"It's from your father. It seems Reverend Cargill has found out you are to marry and is coming here to prevent it. He says you're not old enough to marry without his permission, and he is not going to grant it."

"But I'm nineteen."

"Yes, and that should be good enough, but if he goes to a judge, he could get a hearing and state his objections. He could also talk to the minister and raise objections with him too."

"But that wouldn't work, would it?"

"Probably not, but there could be some negative aspects of him trying to stop us."

"What? Oh." It only took a few seconds for Elaine to know what that was. Her past of running away with a miner at sixteen, and then working in a brothel for two years would become public knowledge. So far, only a judge and some lawyers were the only ones outside the family who knew. If more people knew, there would likely be some negative reactions. Adam was more concerned about what people might say to Jon than he was worried about anything else. There was no good way to prepare the boy either. Even now, he was looking at his father and at Elaine trying to figure out what was going on.

"What can we do?"

It was only a brief moment until Ben offered a suggestion. "Get married today."

Adam looked at him initially thinking they would have to say no but finding no good reason that he could state that countered his father's suggestion. Finally, he looked over at Elaine. "We have your dress, the ring, the pantry has been fully stocked, the weather is fine, and the minister and the guests could be here by late afternoon. I know it's a surprise, but I can't see that he can object to a legal marriage that is consummated. I can't imagine any judge granting him a hearing under those circumstances."

"What if he tells the judge we did it just because we got that telegram?"

"We're not doing anything illegal under Nevada law. I can't see that it would be a problem. The judge is on the list of guests anyway as is the judge from Carson City who heard my case there. We could ask our lawyer to be sure, but I can't see why it would be a problem. Hard for anyone to argue against something that has already happened."

Stepping out from the kitchen, Hop Sing surprised no one except Elaine. "You marry. I cook. I bake. Somebody go get cousins to help. We make wedding feast. You do this now and make Hop Sing happy man."

"All right. I'll do whatever you all think is the right thing to do."

Hoss and Joe whooped a little, but Ben said they needed to get busy. Joe was sent to Carson City to deliver the news that the wedding was moved up by two days. Hoss had the same job in Virginia City as well as getting some of Hop Sing's cousins to come help with the cooking and baking.

The last to understand what was happening was Jon. "Son, Elaine and I are getting married today. Is that all right with you?"

"Do I still get to stand next to you and hold the ring?"

"Yes, of course."

"Do you promise that nobody is going to kiss me in front of all those people?"

"I won't let anyone kiss you without your permission."

"All right. What do I have to do?"

"You need to help us get the room ready, help us finish decorating the tree, then you have to clean up and wear your best clothes, and comb your hair."

"Getting married is sure a lot of work."

It was a lot of work, and by the time the guests were arriving, all the Cartwrights as well as Hop Sing and the hands who stayed with them for the winter were tired. But they were also very happy because Elaine looked gorgeous as she walked from the guest bedroom to meet Adam at the stairs. The minister stood on the first step so that everyone could see him. Jon asked if he could stand on the steps too so he could see. The minister took his hand and led him up to the second step where he stood beaming as he looked out over the crowd of family friends. Adam leaned over to whisper to his son.

"You keep looking like that and I may not be able to stop all these women from kissing you on the cheek and patting you on the head."

With a look of fear, Jon became quite somber and stood almost at attention as he listened to the marriage ceremony. He looked away when the minister said to Adam that he could kiss the bride. Once he heard some laughter and then applause, he looked up to see his father with an arm around Elaine as they received the congratulations of the crowd. Adam held up his hand to get attention.

"Now the weather isn't very conducive to a receiving line outside. Elaine and I will try to greet each of you this afternoon. Meanwhile, Hop Sing has a delicious banquet ready for you, and my father has mixed up some of his famous punch. Ladies please be advised that there is another bowl of punch beside it and that one doesn't have the same kick. Make sure none of the children have any of the famous Ben Cartwright punch. Please, eat, drink, and be merry. The musicians will start up as soon as we can clear a spot for them."

By eight, some of the guests had left, but many were still there enjoying a great party. Hoss came up to stand by Adam. "You look a bit grumpy for your wedding day."

"It's because I want the day to end so I can enjoy the night."

"I thought you did that last night." Adam turned to look at Hoss. "I saw Elaine coming out of your room this morning."

"Ah, yes. Nothing happened. Hoss, I had Jon on one side of me and Elaine on the other. He was scared and she was cold. Tonight Jon will be sleeping in his room. He's exhausted. I should probably get him up to bed soon."

"I'll take care of that. You might want to get Elaine and stand at the door. That way anyone coming up to you is almost out the door. Ifn you thank them for coming and say you hope they had a good time, maybe you can get the rest to leave."

"Hoss, you are a wise man in the ways of people. Thank you. I will do just that."

Soon, there was a caravan of wagons and carriages leaving the Ponderosa. The wagons had lanterns lit and there was a carriage lantern on every carriage. There were even a few riders who thought to take a lantern to help light the way. With the moonlight, the guests could travel home safely. Hop Sing's cousins were staying to help clean up that night and the next day. There was room in the bunkhouse because they only kept some hands on the payroll for the winter. Others would return in the spring. Finally with Jon tucked into bed, and all the guests gone, Adam took Elaine's hand to lead her to the stairs. There he picked her up and kissed her before carrying her up the stairs for their wedding night.

Chapter 3

"Adam, don't you feel the least bit concerned that your whole family knows what we're doing right now?"

Unbuttoning the back of Elaine's dress, Adam only had a simple comment. "No." He nuzzled the back of her neck as he opened more and more of her dress. Slipping it from her shoulders as he finished unbuttoning the back, he kissed her shoulders as he ran his hands down her arms pushing the dress down to her waist. He slid his hands up her stomach caressing her to show his love and his desire for her. Meanwhile he was kissing and nuzzling her neck and shoulders as he pushed her dress down and off. Pulling her light chemise up and off, he next untied her pantaloons and let them drop to the floor.

Shivering slightly, Elaine stepped to the bed pulling the covers back as Adam hurriedly shucked the rest of his clothing. He stepped toward her just as she turned toward him. He slid his arms around her and moved the two of them into the bed where they pulled the covers up to their necks as their hands continued to explore each other's bodies. Adam kissed her with all of his passion plunging his tongue into her mouth as she did the same to him.

They made love to each other until he had to roll to the side then because he was afraid that otherwise he might collapse on top of her. Elaine pulled him close to her as he wrapped his arms around her. Neither said anything for some time as they lay in quiet comfort with each other. Then Adam moved to slip out of the bed surprising her.

"Where are you going?"

"I have to go get something from your room. I'll be right back. Keep my place warm."

Elaine watched as Adam slipped on a robe and left the room. She had to wonder what he was getting and was surprised when he walked back in with the quilt from the bed in the guest room she had been using. He draped it over the headboard before slipping back under the covers with her.

"I had no idea that it would bang into the wall announcing exactly what we were doing."

"I thought you didn't mind your family knowing that we were making love up here?"

"In general terms, that's true, but I don't want them to know too many details and that headboard banging against the wall was too much. They're still downstairs, and I heard chuckling amid the conversation. I didn't hear what they were saying, but I could guess."

"Well then I guess they can be very happy for us." With a wicked grin, she had to add more. "And maybe they're a bit jealous too?"

"Envious would probably be more accurate unless you think that one of my family wants you this way."

"Oh, no, Adam, I never meant to make you think that."

"Sweetheart, I know that. I was only teasing you a little. Now how about we snuggle here for a while and see what develops. We didn't kiss as much as I would have liked. I'm sorry that I was so anxious to have you that I may have neglected kissing you and thanking you for becoming my wife."

"Handsome, what you did sent that message loud and clear. Now what exactly did you have in mind?"

His voice hoarse and deep with desire, Adam answered. "Oh more loving most definitely. One of my favorite things to do." Pulling Elaine to him, Adam leaned back into the pillows. He knew what she wanted and kissed and caressed her as gently as he had earlier been passionate. Finally Elaine turned to face him with his left arm still around her.

"That was magnificent, my dark stallion. My wish would be that every night would be like this." She felt his chuckle as much as she heard it. "Oh, I know we can't take the time to do this much every night, but I want to feel this loved and desired every night. Can you do that?"

"I can do that. If I ever make you ever feel that I don't love and desire you as much as I do tonight, then you need to kick me in the behind. I tend to get wrapped up in projects and other things sometimes and forget to tell my loved ones how much I care."

"I love you so much, but I'm very tired now. Can we sleep for a while?"

"Of course. Let me build up the fire a bit, and then I'll be right back." Stoking the fire and adding a large log, Adam returned to the bed. It didn't take long for the two of them to fall asleep in the comfort of each other's embrace. In the morning, Adam awoke to soft kisses.

"Good morning, cowboy. I woke up and wanted to let you know I love you. Were you dreaming about me?"

"Sweetheart, I was having such wonderful dreams."

Chuckling, Adam got out of bed to take care of his needs, and built up the fire again before Elaine got up and went behind a screen to do the same. Adam had put a screen in the room for her knowing that she would be more comfortable if some things were not shared. She did walk out still naked when she had taken care of things, washed, and combed out her hair. Adam felt some stirrings of desire even after all the loving they had already done. He pulled her into an embrace.

"Really? Again?"

"No, we need to get dressed and go down to breakfast or the teasing will be unmerciful. It will probably be bad enough as it is. I'll want to make love to you every time I kiss you and hold you. It doesn't mean we have to rush to bed every time although that would be nice to consider."

"How will I know when you want to go to bed?"

"I have my ways of letting you know. How will I know if you want to?"

"I have my ways, and they're very direct, but I know we have to get dressed and go down to breakfast instead."

"I usually don't enjoy winter because I'm cooped up inside so much, but now I have something to look forward to every day."

After they were finished dressing, Adam escorted Elaine down to breakfast. Everyone including Jon was at the table so Adam had to assume Hoss had taken care of the boy that morning.

He thanked Hoss, who stammered out that he was welcome. Adam guessed correctly that Hoss had other things he wanted to say but wouldn't with Jon and Elaine present. He also guessed that he might hear those comments at a later date when Hoss would feel more free to express himself. Ben had a question to try to get his younger sons thinking along less inappropriate lines because he could see that both of them wanted to tease Adam but didn't know how to do it with Jon and Elaine there.

"Adam, that was quite clever how you got the guests to leave last night. I was beginning to think we were going to be hosting some of them overnight."

"Wasn't my idea. Hoss thought of it."

"Yeah, Pa, you know once you get the lead cow up and moving, the rest of the herd just follows along pretty as you please."

"Hoss, I don't know if that is proper to refer to our guests as cattle."

"I don't know, Pa. Hoss might have a point. They sure ate like a herd. There wasn't any cake or cookies left at all, and I was hoping for some of those potatoes for breakfast and they're all gone too."

"Joseph, please. You're only serving to add more insult to our guests. You need to remember that we have some young ears here that have a tendency to repeat what is heard."

"Grandpa, are you talking about me. Is it because you don't want me to tell people that Uncle Hoss and Uncle Joe think the people at our party were cows?"

Looking rather sheepishly at Ben, Joe was the first to speak. "Point taken, Pa. Sorry about that." Hoss nodded. "Sorry. Never meant to do that."

Adam was actually rather pleased. He had food on his plate and had already eaten some, but had not yet had to endure a single comment about his wedding night. He was hoping that would continue. It did but only until Jon excused himself to go to the necessary. After he had gotten his coat on and hurried outside, Joe turned to Adam.

"Hey, Adam, was it too cold in your bedroom last night. Hop Sing asked me this morning to collect the bedding from Elaine's room so he could send it off to the laundry in town when his cousins go home later this morning, and guess what. There was no quilt on the bed."

"Now, Joe, it couldna been too cold in their room. I saw Adam hauling some extra wood up there yesterday. I'm guessing he had plenty of wood. Unless maybe the wood was too old and burned up too fast."

"Nah, Hoss, then he would have just gotten more wood. He probably had plenty of wood even if he had the old stuff. Heck, he probably even had some wood left this morning with that load he was carrying yesterday. I'm guessing there was some other purpose for an extra quilt, or we have quilt thieves, and we'll have to send out a posse."

The teasing had Elaine nearly ready to burst out in laughter, but she correctly assumed Adam wouldn't like that. She took her napkin from her lap and quickly covered her mouth as she closed her eyes and dropped her head. Her reaction had Hoss and Joe worried for they had only meant to tease Adam, and now it looked like Elaine was upset.

"Aww, dagnabit, Sis, I'm sorry. I never meant for you to get upset. I'm sorry. Please say you'll forgive me?"

Joe was equally apologetic, and although Ben was fairly certain that Elaine was stifling laughter instead of being upset, he used the situation to dress down his younger sons. "Oh, so now you're sorry and hope that she can forgive you. You should have known what you were doing before you started such a conversation for the second time already. That's two lessons you should have learned long ago. Now, can we please just have a nice family breakfast without all the inappropriate commentary." It was phrased as a question but stated as a demand.

Breakfast was pleasant then until Adam noted that it had been quite a while and Jon wasn't back yet. He hurried to get his coat and go out to find him. Once he was outside, he had a good idea where Jon was. He was pelting snowballs into the chicken coop and laughing at the reaction of the frightened birds. Adam laid a swat on his behind as soon as he reached him. Jon looked up to see an angry father.

"You will go inside and up to your room. You may sit there and think about the consequences of being cruel to animals. Now go." Marching behind his son, Adam entered the house as everyone turned to look at him and Jon. Jon quickly took off his coat and boots and then nearly ran to the stairs and up to his room. When Adam explained, his father and brothers were in agreement that he had done the correct thing. Elaine wasn't though, but Adam wouldn't know that until later.

Chapter 4

"Are you going to town because you think my father may be there?" Adam had announced that he had some errands in town and would be gone for much of the day. Adam's reluctance to answer was all that Elaine needed. "I should go with you to see him."

Seeing potentially difficult situations, Ben interceded. "I already asked Hoss to go with Adam. We need some things here, and Hoss can get those while Adam runs his errands. And you, my dear, were caught out in the cold only two days ago. I think you should curtail any outside activities for a few days until we're sure you're fully recovered."

"I know you're all trying to protect me, but if it is my father, and he's here to make trouble, I should be the one talking with him. I'm the one who ran away from home and made a mess of things."

"Sweetheart, we don't even know if he's in town yet. I want to see Roy and our family attorney to see if there's anything he can do legally about our marriage. I don't think so, but I need to know. You need to know too. If he is in town, I'll see if I can arrange a time for all of us to meet. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. It's when we were supposed to be married, but it is hardly the time for a rancorous meeting. If he's there, I'll see if he would be willing to meet on the day after Christmas. All right?"

"I still think I should go with you, but your father is probably right, and I should stay here. You need to tell me everything that happens. I want to know everything that happens. Promise me that there will be no secrets."

"I can promise you that. Hoss will be in town too so he can tell you anything he learns."

"I thought your father had errands for him too."

"I think the number one errand might be keeping me out of trouble."

Looking over at her father-in-law, Elaine could see the sheepish look he had because Adam had seen through his guile so easily. She nodded then. "Good. I like the way your father thinks."

Hoss chuckled as Joe commented. "Aha, older brother, you better watch out now. The two of them are ganging up on you."

Adam shook his head at Joe's comment. "Let Jon come down for lunch. Then he can stay down here with you until I get home and have a talk with him. Take care, sweetheart." Adam kissed Elaine softly mistaking her worried look as being because her father might be in town and not realizing that to her his promise of a talk with Jon sounded like more of a threat than anything else.

As Adam and Hoss walked to the stable, Hoss commented on the weather. "Gonna be a real cold Christmas this year. I guess it was a good idea that you had your wedding earlier than tomorrow and not just because of her father. This kind of cold will probably mean some icy roads. Are you sure we need to make this trip?"

"You don't need to come along, but I need to talk with Roy and with a lawyer."

"I thought you was gonna talk to the family lawyer."

"I will, but I also want to talk with that new lawyer in town. He used to practice in California so he will know more about the laws there."

"Ah, so you can be ready for anything. Good thinking." It looked like Hoss had something more to say so Adam asked him to just spit it out. "Well, when you said you spanked Jon and when you said you was gonna have a talk with him later, Elaine looked kinda worried. Maybe she thinks those weren't very good ideas."

"Maybe, but I'm Jon's father and I have a lot more experience as a parent than she does. She'll have to accept my decisions on that for now."

"Yeah, you're probably right on that one. Now let's get going. It's gonna be a slow trip, and I want to be home for dinner. Hop Sing always makes lots of good stuff about this time of year. It just gets better and better until Christmas dinner. Then afterwards, it's all them sweet leftovers when he goes off to visit with his cousins for a while. Hey, Adam, you think all those cousins of his are really cousins?"

"No, a lot of them are paper cousins."

"Hah, what?"

"They sign papers when they come into the country saying that they are related to someone already here. It's getting harder and harder for them. Most now claim to be sons of a father already here. Otherwise, they can get rejected and sent back home. It's like how most of the time the women have to be married or they can't come into the country. It's getting real mean in California right about now. Even here, I've heard talk about driving out the Chinese miners."

"Well, that's crazy talk. The Chinese miners only work claims that have been abandoned. We wouldn't have any laundry services and not near enough bathhouses if the Chinese left. Hey, if the Chinese left, would Hop Sing leave?"

"Hard to say, but it would be difficult for him to stay without someone with whom to celebrate his holidays and play the games he knows."

"Yeah, I guess it would be hard on him to stay, but it would be darned hard on him to leave too. It'd be hard on me too."

"Then I guess we ought to start thinking of ways to settle down all the talk about forcing the Chinese out of Virginia City."

"All right. I'll back any play you got on that one."

After a slow ride because the roads were a bit difficult for travel, Adam and Hoss arrived in town and went to the family lawyer first. He had reasonably good news even when Adam mentioned the telegram.

"The telegram warning that he did not give consent to a marriage that was legal under the laws here has no bearing on the situation. If he could have gotten here before the marriage, he might have been able to delay the ceremony but not prevent it. Elaine is six years older than necessary for the age of consent in Nevada. There are some who would like to see it raised to sixteen, but even then, she is three years older than necessary. There was no deception, no fraud, and no one filed any legal objection to the marriage. He will not be able to get it annulled. If he tries, the judge will dismiss it as soon as we show up with the information I just mentioned. Unless there is something else I don't know, that's how it stands."

"What if she ran away from home to marry a miner in California but was abandoned by him after only three weeks?"

"If they had remained together and set up a domicile together acting as husband and wife even without a ceremony, then there could be a claim of common law marriage. It's not viable though if they were only together for three weeks. There was no ceremony?"

"It was in a miners' camp. They called them married and had some drinks. That was it."

"Without a proper official to sanction the marriage, it never occurred. We may need Elaine to testify to all of that, but probably not. We can explain those details to the judge and I doubt he would see a need to have a formal hearing when the outcome was already obvious."

"There's a new lawyer in town from California. I was thinking of talking to him about California laws."

"That's not necessary, Adam. You and your family as well as a number of other businesses here do so much business in California that I have become well versed in California law and have a set of their state laws on my shelves. I'll look through them to see if I have missed anything, but that's unlikely."

"Thank you. We're heading over to talk with Roy now to alert him to the situation. I'd also like to talk with him about the concerns here about the Chinese miners."

"Watch out on that one, my friend. There's been a lot of violence in some of the mining camps and some towns out here. Don't let yourself get caught in the middle of it. You have a wife and son to worry about now."

"I know. I'll be careful. Besides, I got Hoss here to watch my back."

"It may take more than Hoss if you get yourself between the Chinese miners and the white miners. It's going to be uglier before it gets any better, I'm afraid."

"I hope it doesn't, but I'm worried that you might be correct in that assumption. Maybe we can start some talking to calm things down before it gets that far."

"I know I wouldn't mind talking to some of them miners about the Chinese workers. It ain't their fault ifn some of them big mines done shut down for a while cause the price of silver dropped."

Adam and the lawyer agreed that Hoss would be a good candidate to speak to the miners and try to find out their exact grievances and to see if there was some resolution that could be reached before the violence that had touched other towns and camps hit Virginia City. That conversation concluded, Adam and Hoss headed over to see Roy. The stage was late, and they found Roy chatting with the station manager.

"That was a right fine wedding you had out to the ranch yesterday, Adam. You got yourself a pretty darn near perfect wife for you."

"Well, Roy, that's some of what I want to talk with you about. Can we go to your office?"

"Soon as that stage gets here. I like to see who's getting on and off."

"I may have an idea of one passenger. Elaine's father may be coming to town."

"Well, Adam you don't look none too happy about that, and I'm guessing it ain't no ordinary father-in-law problem."

"Yes, but I would rather discuss this in private if you don't mind."

"You and Hoss go on over to my office and wait. Shouldn't be too long now. The stage is already an hour overdue, and it usually is never much more than that."

Hoss and Adam agreed to wait for Roy at his office, but Adam watched out the window until he saw the stage arrive. A man with a minister's collar and all black clothing stepped from the stage and immediately approached Roy. Adam watched as they had an animated conversation and then headed in the direction of Roy's office.

"Looks like trouble heading this way, Hoss. If I'm correct, Roy's going to be here soon with Elaine's father, and I doubt that he is fond of me at all."

"Like you said before, I got your back."

Boots on the sidewalk outside the door announced the arrival of Roy and Reverend Cargill. He shot dark looks at both Hoss and Adam before resting his gaze on Adam alone once Roy had made the introductions. Roy then got to the heart of the matter as he saw it. "Adam, Reverend Cargill has leveled some charges at you, but unless Elaine is a sight younger than she looks, I don't see nothing to back them up. He says you married Elaine without his consent and that he sent a telegram telling you that he would not consent to her marrying you."

"He did sent such a telegram, but Elaine is nineteen years old."

"Well that about takes care of it then." Turning to the Reverend Cargill, Roy held out his hands. "Now in Nevada and in California, the age of consent is thirteen. There's been talk of raising it to sixteen or even eighteen although I doubt that will ever happen. It don't matter none though. Elaine doesn't need your permission to marry."

"What if she's already married? She ran away with a miner and set up house with him. That's a common law marriage."

Getting angry, Adam answered that before Roy could even ask. "She was never legally married to him and he abandoned her after three weeks. That is not enough time for a common law marriage to exist, and even if it did, he abandoned her over three years ago. That would be enough to nullify such a so-called marriage regardless."

"And now you're a lawyer. You're a common cowboy living out here in the godforsaken wilderness where there is no respect for God's law nor man's. How could you know anything about the law?"

That made Roy angry. He didn't like the insults about the city, but the insults to Adam were infuriating. "Now see her, Reverend Cargill. Adam is a respected member of this community. I won't stand by and let you insult him like this. You need to keep a civil tongue here in my office."

"He cannot be such an upright citizen if he married my daughter who is a harlot, a whore, and a jezebel."

Hoss had moved up to stand by Adam's shoulder as the conversation had escalated. It was very lucky that he had because he was able to grab Adam and prevent him from assaulting Elaine's father. Roy stepped between the two men as well.

"Hoss let me go. He can't say that and get away with it."

"Adam, I ain't gonna go home and tell Elaine that you beat her father to death. Now you just settle down." Adam continued to struggle in Hoss' grip and Hoss had to use all his strength to hang onto him. "As for you, Reverend, you better hightail it outta here cause I can't hold him forever. I'm gonna count to ten and then let him go. You better be long gone by then."

"I'm not gonna be run out of here by some half-wit cowboy."

"One."

"Sheriff, do something."

"Two."

"You can't let them threaten me like this."

"Three."

"It isn't civilized."

"Four."

"You better go. Hoss doesn't lie, and no judge and no jury in this godforsaken wilderness would ever have Adam found guilty for beating you for insulting his wife like that."

"Five."

"A quite a few men hereabouts would like as not be willing to help him do it."

Reverend Cargill made a hasty retreat with his valise before Hoss could finish saying six. He counted out the rest. "Adam, kin I let ya go now, and ya won't do anything stupid cause my arms are getting mighty tired holding you like this?"

Roy moved between Adam and the door before Hoss released him. Then Adam stood there fuming and breathing hard until he slowly regained control of his temper. "Adam, it would be best if you just headed on home now. I'll talk to the Reverend later and try to talk some sense into him. You best stay away from him. I know no jury would ever convict you for beating him, but I'm afraid you're so mad, you might up and kill him. That I can't allow. Hoss, get him out of town, please. You know you can't let him go see Cargill now, not the way he is."

"I'm right here. You can talk to me. I won't kill him, Roy, but make sure he knows he is not welcome on the Ponderosa. I can't be held responsible if he trespasses."

Roy shook his head. "Just go home, boys. I'll be out to see you if I can talk some sense into Cargill." Roy's failure to refer to Elaine's father as a minister was evidence enough of his feelings about the man, but he wanted to protect Adam so he finally ordered him to go home. Within a short time, Adam and Hoss rode out of town. Up in his hotel room, Cargill had dropped his bag on the bed and watched the sheriff's office. He watched Adam and Hoss ride out as he began to wonder what he could do now that his initial plan had been thwarted. Despite his insult about Adam's legal knowledge, he knew that the man was correct, and he had no legal recourse now that they were already married. He knew that there had been little he could do about the marriage anyway, but he had hoped to humiliate his daughter and the man she had married. Elaine had humiliated him and ruined his reputation by running off with that miner. Then word had filtered back about what had happened between the two of them and what she had turned to in order to survive. His humiliation and embarrassment were complete. He wouldn't stop until he had his revenge on her and her husband.

Chapter 5

"What happened? I can tell by the look of you two that something unpleasant happened so you may as well tell me." Adam's temper had not improved on the ride home, and it was apparent in his scowl and his stiff walk. He motioned for her to follow him upstairs. In their bedroom, he explained what had happened in town including the visit with the lawyer and the advice he had given before he explained what had happened with her father.

"He made me so angry that Hoss had to hang onto me so I didn't smash that nasty face of his. He isn't very forgiving for being a minister. In fact, I can hardly think of him as a minister with all the hate he spews."

"Adam, I told you that my father was a fire and brimstone kind of preacher. Did you expect someone kind and thoughtful? He has no caring for anyone who doesn't buckle down to the rules as he sees them. He believes that only a small number of people will ever get to heaven and assumes the rest will be damned for all eternity."

"Why does he care about what you're doing then if he already sees you condemned forever for what you did?"

"I'm sure he believes that what I did reflects on him and may ruin his chances for salvation. The only way to right the wrong will be for him to punish me and probably as publicly as he can."

"So he would see his own daughter stoned so that his reputation would be untarnished?"

"That's about it."

"I won't let him harm you or any member of my family."

"Adam, please promise me that you won't go after him? Please, if you kill him, then he will get his wish for my life would be ruined if you went to the gallows for killing him."

After pausing to think that through, Adam had his answer. "I promise I won't go after him, but if he threatens anyone in this family, I will defend them against him using every means I have available."

Thinking that was about the best she could hope to get in cooperation from Adam, Elaine wanted to bring up another topic. "You said you wanted to talk with Jon when you got home. Don't you think he's been punished enough? He's been worried and sad ever since it happened."

"Do you know what he was doing?"

"Yes, he told me. He didn't realize that he was doing harm. He only saw their antics as they tried to dodge the snowballs, and he thought it was funny."

"The next time he thinks it's funny to torture an animal, maybe he'll think back to this lesson. I will talk with him, but he knows he's getting a spanking too. One swat will hardly be enough for him to remember this."

"I think it's enough. I already told him that he needs to apologize to Hop Sing and offer to help feed and care for the chickens for the next week. Your father was there and thought it was appropriate."

"You what?" Adam was still on edge from his confrontation with Reverend Cargill and didn't want to say some things he might regret. "This isn't over yet. We'll talk later, and that talk you're not avoiding."

"Adam, please don't be angry with me. I couldn't bear to see Jon suffer so."

"All right, if you want to do this now. You usurped my role with my son. I have far more experience with him than you do, and I expect my decisions on his care to be seen as my responsibility and you need to understand that."

"So I have no say in his care?"

"Just because we're married, it doesn't mean you're his mother." Seeing the devastated look in Elaine's eyes, Adam relented. "I'm sorry. I should never have said that. I'm still angry about your father, and I didn't want to have this discussion now for that reason. Please don't push me any more right now. I am sorry. You are his mother now, but remember that I'm his father, and you can't undermine my authority with him."

"So spanking him is that important to you?"

"Please, no more. Let's go downstairs. We can talk later when things have calmed down."

The tension between them was significant but both did realize that talking at this point would likely be more arguing with the potential for being insulting. Neither wanted that so there was an uneasy truce. They headed down the stairs and Hoss assumed that Elaine's demeanor was because of what her father had said. Ben suspected more because of the way the two of them moved away from each other at the bottom of the stairs. He had expected Adam to be hovering near Elaine offering comfort. He thought he probably knew what the issue was but refrained from saying anything. He knew the two of them needed to work out their relationship together with no interference from him. He had seen how well Elaine had dealt with Jon's misbehavior but had also known that Adam would likely not see it as acceptable. Ben knew that he had used physical punishment too much with Adam. By the time he was parenting Joe, he knew better. Adam would have to learn how to be a parent to an inquisitive and rambunctious boy who was also very sensitive and intelligent much as Adam had been when he was young. To some extent, the difficult childhood and the threat of physical punishment had wiped out a lot of the fun-loving side of Adam's personality. Some of it had re-emerged with Jon's antics. Ben could only hope that it was still there although quite clearly in need of nurturing.

Elaine was young and not jaded despite what she had done to survive for two years before meeting Adam and escaping that life. Ben had some knowledge of the behavior of brothel owners and knew they protected their youngest ladies from the harsher elements. A beautiful, well-spoken young woman like Elaine was probably treated well and kept from the seedier elements. Although there was a significant age gap between Elaine and Adam, Ben had accepted it. Adam could help her grow and mature, and she could help him find joy in life again. That both of them loved Jon would help cement their relationship if they could just get by these early hurdles. Ben didn't do much except walk over to Adam and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hoss told us what happened. A short version when we sent Jon to the kitchen for cookies and milk. That boy is smart. He knows that every time that happens, we're talking about things we don't want him to hear so he was back out here as fast as he could gobble down a cookie and a glass of milk. We're going to have to start sending him out to the kitchen to eat a ham sandwich." That elicited a small smile from Adam. "Hoss took Jon out to the stable with him to take care of the horses. Now go to your wife and offer her the comfort she needs so badly. Anything else the two of you can talk over later." Adam looked at his father wondering how much he had guessed, and then supposed it was probably everything. He nodded and moved to sit beside Elaine on the settee. She looked at him with a bit of apprehension, but when he smiled softly and reached for her hand, the tears came. Adam pulled her into an embrace and let her cry on his shoulder. He looked behind the settee at his father and mouthed a thank you. Ben smiled and went back to his desk.

When Jon came in from the stable with Hoss and Joe, he looked a bit scared when he saw that Elaine had been crying. He moved to her and took her hand. "Did Papa yell at you and spank you too?"

"No, Jon, it's something else. My father is in town, and he's very upset with me. Your Papa saw him and he said some bad things about me."

"What about your mother?"

"My Mama died a long time ago. I can hardly remember what she looked like."

"My Mama died a long time ago too. I don't remember what she looked like except in that picture I have. Papa says she loved me very much. I love you very much too, Miss Lainy. Are you going to be my new mama?"

Elaine looked at Adam who had tears in his eyes. He nodded and gave her an encouraging smile. "Yes, I would like that if you want me to be your new mama. Perhaps you could call me Mama Lainy so your mother will always be your Mama."

"I like that, Mama Lainy." Jon was a little hesitant with the new terminology but his father's encouraging look helped.

That evening after Jon went to bed, the family sat together wondering what Elaine's father might do next. She told them more about him and his ministry that would have made the Puritan fathers cringe at his righteousness. "Reverend Cargill is never wrong. Sinners are going to hell and can never expect to see heaven. In his way of thinking, they have lost any chance at redemption."

Hoss was surprised that a minister could think that way. "Heck, Heaven's a real big place. If God could make the universe and everything in it in only six days, he must be able to make Heaven as big as it needs to be."

"Reverend Cargill believes that one hundred and forty-four thousand is the limit. He aims to be one of them, and he thinks I am the one thing that will stop him from gaining entrance. I'm absolutely certain that he believes I need to be severely punished and by his hand to right the wrong."

"Ifn he was so upset about it all, why didn't he come get you when he found out what you was doing?"

"Hoss, he did. I told Adam. He came to get me and said I needed to be publicly whipped for my sins. I wouldn't go with him, and the men there wouldn't let him take me. That only made him angrier. I'm sure when he found out I left with Adam, he was furious. I still don't know how he tracked me down here."

"Our engagement was announced in the Territorial Enterprise. He must have gotten a copy or someone told him. I'm sorry, sweetheart. I never thought that something so simple could lead to this, although I don't know that we could have stopped the paper from putting in that small article."

Ben had had enough of the troubling conversation. "Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. We have a lot to celebrate this year. Tomorrow night just a few of our closest friends will be here, and then on Christmas Day, we will celebrate all the good news and the holy day commemorating Christ's birth. So, let's all relax and try to forget all about this turmoil. He won't be able to do anything for the next two days anyway. I, for one, am going to bed. Tomorrow night will be a late one, and if Jon is anything like Joe was at that age, we'll be up early on Christmas morning."

Hoss was grinning. "At that age, Pa? Joe's still likely to be the first one up even if he wakes up Jon as his cover story for going downstairs making all sorts of racket to wake us all up."

"Jon as a cover story? When did I ever do that?"

"Last year, little brother. I heard you telling him to whoop and holler when you got down by the tree and saw all the presents so everybody would wake up."

"Dang, why do you have to have the bedroom at the top of the stairs. It'd be a heck more convenient if that was mine."

By then, the mood was more upbeat. Adam and Hoss took care of locking doors and turning the lamps down until only one dimly lit their way up the stairs. When Adam entered the bedroom, Elaine was sitting on the side of the bed in her new lacy gown. Adam smiled in appreciation, but his smile faded as he saw her downcast look.

"What's wrong?"

"You said we would talk later. I thought that was what would happen next."

"I've calmed down and seen reason. I am sorry for how I acted earlier. It's how I get sometimes when I'm on edge. It's best to avoid me when I'm like that." He sat beside her and kissed her on the cheek. "I am very sorry."

"So you aren't going to spank me?"

"No, of course not. Why would I spank you?"

"The head of the family has the right to do that when he's angry with a member of the family."

"No. No one has the right to spank someone simply because they're angry. I admit I was angry with Jon when I saw what he was doing, but the swat I gave him was to reinforce the message that he is not to torture animals for his pleasure. When I truly listened to how you had handled it, I realized you had done it well. I was too upset to admit it, but he won't forget this lesson. I guess I was tanned for misbehavior when I was young so that it's the first thing I think to do." Looking thoughtful as he wrapped an arm around Elaine, Adam had to ask. "Did your father spank you a lot?"

Realizing she should have known he would guess that, Elaine nodded. "I was spanked almost every day for doing one thing or another. He made me kneel down afterwards and pray for forgiveness. There were times when he spanked me because he said he didn't find anything wrong that I had done, and that deceit was even worse than wrong acts. I would beg him not to telling him that he didn't find any wrongdoing because I was trying so hard to be good, but he never believed me. Those spankings were some of the worst."

"But you said that sometimes men spanked you when you were working at the brothel."

"Yes, but they weren't angry, and it never really hurt. Most of them just liked slapping my bare skin. It didn't bother me, and often sometimes I didn't have to do anything else so that was good."

"Sweetheart, I will never spank you. I love you, and I never want to cause you any kind of pain."

"Except when you're an angry puss and say mean things?"

"I am sorry about that. It may be my greatest failing as a person. When I get upset, I say things that I don't mean. I know they hurt, and that I can't take them back, but how I wish I could."

"I forgive you. Now can we have some making up sex?"

"What?"

"Peg, one of the girls that I worked with, had a regular who was kinda like her man and sometimes they would argue. Afterwards, she said he was always sorry, and then he would have great sex with her to make up for being crabby with her. He would do everything he could to please her. So, can we do that?"

Grinning, Adam leaned down to kiss her. "How was that for a start?"

"There's going to be more, isn't there?"

He stood and removed all of this clothing and then reached for her and pulled her up to him. Sliding his hands down her body, he slipped them under her gown and pulled it up and over her head tossing it across the room. "You never have to wear those for me." Bending down he kissed her neck behind the ear and then worked his way around to the other ear kissing each inch of skin as he did so. Next he kissed back to the center of her throat and down to her chest kissing and licking her skin until she had goosebumps. She shivered, but he didn't stop. He did everything he knew how to do to make her enjoy her time with him. When their lovemaking was done, he lay by her side.

"As soon as I catch my breath, I'm going to tell you how wonderful that was." Elaine kissed his chest causing him to shiver a bit too. Smiling she snuggled into his embrace and didn't even remember closing her eyes. When she awakened, she was sleeping beside Adam and dawn was breaking. She felt warm and very loved.

Chapter 6

The next morning, Adam made sure that Jon remembered to help feed the chickens and clean up the coop as well as provide a fresh dish of water inside the coop. Hop Sing was stern with the boy but smiled when he finished. "Boy do good work today. Chickens lay eggs again and Mister Hoss happy."

"If you scare them, they don't lay eggs?"

"Lay eggs but not enough. Need many eggs here with family and cowboys. Need many more when winter done."

"Do they lay more eggs if you feed them?"

"Feed good get better bigger eggs. Do not feed too much. Wasted. Carry eggs to house now. No run."

That warning lasted until Jon saw Adam open the kitchen door. He started to run toward his father, but a barked warning stopped him in his tracks. "Jon, don't run." Adam was upset again, and Jon's lip started to quiver. "Walk to the house with the basket of eggs so you don't break any."

Instead, Jon set the basket down. "No. Everybody wants to tell me what to do."

"Jon, pick up that basket right now and march into this house, or you and I will have that necessary talking to that I mentioned yesterday."

"No. Mama Lainy won't let you."

"Oh, yes, I will." Elaine had come up behind Adam and was shocked by what she heard from Jon. "I won't spank you, but for that, I think it might be appropriate for your father to let you know you can't talk like that to him or anyone else."

Surprised and a bit confused, Jon simply stood there. Hop Sing came up behind him and landed three hard swats on his behind before he had a chance to react. "I tell boy no run. Boy not listen. Boy get this."

"Papa, can he do that?"

"Yes, and now that I know he told you not to run, you will apologize too."

His rebellion cracked and broken, Jon turned to Hop Sing. "I'm sorry I ran. I know I wasn't supposed to."

"Now tell father very sorry for running mouth."

Jon turned to his father. "Papa, I'm sorry. I was wrong." Jon picked up the eggs and walked to the house worried about what might happen next. He hadn't been spanked since his mother had been killed, and now in two days had been swatted twice, once by his father and once by Hop Sing. Inside the house, Jon turned to his father. "Do I still get a necessary talking to from you, Papa?"

"No, this time Hop Sing handled it."

"He can spank me?"

"Any grownup in this family can discipline you if you choose to break the rules."

"But everybody's grown up except me. Does that mean that all of them can spank me?"

"Yes, so that means you need to do what you're told and keep a respectful voice while you do it."

"But sometimes you yell at Uncle Joe and even at Grandpa. Do they get to spank you?"

"No, but sometimes I bet they wish they could although Uncle Joe would probably get more than me if that was the case. There are lots of ways to discipline a boy though, and spanking is only one of them. I wasn't planning on spanking you, but I did have in mind that you needed a serious talking to and some punishment for your behavior."

"I'm sorry. It's just that everyone always is telling me what to do. Sometimes I would like to do what I want to do all by myself."

"Oh, what would you like to do?"

Looking up sideways at his father, wondering if there was some trick in that question, Jon finally answered. "I wanted to make a snow fort, but everyone says I can't be outside alone, but nobody wants to be outside with me to make a snow fort."

"You can make a snow fort if you do it right outside the dining room window. I want to be able to see you as I sit at the table having some coffee."

"Thank you, Papa, thank you."

At the dining table with his father and brothers, Adam explained all that had happened. Ben nodded, but Elaine was a bit troubled. She listened as Ben talked before she said anything.

Ben was philosophical about what had happened. "It was probably just a matter of time until it happened. We've all sheltered and protected Jon since Barbara was killed and you were gone for all those months until you were cleared of those charges. He's had to make the move to living here with all of us, and then Elaine came into his life, and now is his new mother. He's probably a bit confused about all of that and straining against all the smothering too."

"Yes, I'm thinking it's time to set some chores for him to do on a regular basis. He's five so he's quite capable of having some responsibility. It will give him a feeling of pride and accomplishment too when he's able to take charge of something. I've been treating him too much like a helpless child."

Elaine had to say something then. "Adam, I'm so sorry I interfered yesterday before I talked it over with you. When I heard Jon say that this morning, I realized what a big mistake it was. He thought he could use me to get his way with you and avoid punishment. I promise to always talk things over with you when we disagree about Jon."

Turning to Elaine, Adam took her hand before he said anything. "It may not always be possible, but thank you for understanding that. I know it's a lot for you to have to do, but you had his best interests at heart, and that's what matters most to me. Everyone in this family has been doing a great job helping with Jon, but now I think he needs to know that there are some limits I won't let him cross."

"Oh-oh." Elaine was watching out the window as the wall Jon had built fell over. They all saw him standing and staring at the fallen chunks of snow. Then he pushed several aside and started to build two walls working out from the corner so that each helped stabilize the other. Ben smiled as did the others when they realized what he was doing. Elaine looked over to Adam to see the proud look on his face. "He is definitely his father's son. You don't suppose he would mind some help, do you? I haven't played in the snow in ages."

Looking at his father and brothers, Adam waited for what they had to say. Hoss responded first. "Heck, all the chores are done, and now we ain't having the big party cause we already did, so I wouldn't mind building a snow fort. Might even have time for a snowball fight if everyone is willing."

Ben declined an invitation, but soon all the other members of the family were donning their winter coats and scarves and heading out to play in the snow. Jon was delighted to have playtime companions and had never had a snowball fight. He was quite willing to give it a try though. After a couple of hours, snow covered Hoss, Joe, and Elaine trudged back into the house laughing and looking forward to some hot drinks. Ben asked where Adam and Jon were, and Elaine explained they were using the remnants of two snow forts to sculpt a snowman.

"Remnants of two snow forts?"

"Yes, Hoss slipped and fell on theirs knocking most of it down, and Joe did a suicide charge against ours after Hoss did that and knocked out their defenses. He breached the walls of our fort even with all three of us firing at him. It was fun."

Within a half hour, a shivering Jon was brought inside by Adam. Jon had insisted he wasn't really cold, but Adam wasn't buying it. Instead, he had Jon go put on dry clothing and told him to wear a sweater until he was warmer. When Jon came downstairs, he asked Ben to go to the window to see their snowman. After all the appropriate praise of the tall snowman, the whole family sat down to lunch with all the worries pushed effectively into the background. Jon's desire for a snow fort had let the whole family blow off some energy and have fun at the same time. It put them in the best mood for the holiday, and all looked forward to guests arriving in the afternoon.

Soon after lunch, Paul, Roy, Julia, and Clementine arrived on the Ponderosa. The afternoon was spent in song, stories, and friendly chatter. Jon was the center of attention and loved that. He and his father sang some songs together for the group, and then Adam led everyone in singing Christmas carols. By late afternoon, Hop Sing had a banquet served. The guests couldn't stay after dinner because of the cold that made the roads tend to be icy in spots. The group had traveled out together in a covered carriage and needed to head back early before the roads became too treacherous. Roy walked out with Adam and Hoss when they went to hitch up the team to the carriage.

"These horses ain't none too happy to be dragged out of our warm stable for a cold ride back to town. Now, Roy, you got enough blankets and such in the carriage?"

"I'm sure we do, Hoss. Doc don't go nowhere without lots of blankets and such. Heck, I bet he's got candles, food, and who knows what else packed in the boot of this carriage."

"Roy, I have a feeling you didn't come out here to talk about that, though, did you?"

"No, sorry, Adam, that ain't the case. I come to warn you about that Reverend Cargill. He's spreading some stories in town about you and about Elaine. Now I can't stop him cause what he's saying is the truth even if he's leaving out a lot of stuff that would put you and your wife in a better light. But I would surely like to send him packing. Next time you or you and Elaine come to town, there could be some ugliness. At least all this trouble with the miners settled down this week."

"Yes, Pa thought the gift of some beef might help. He had Hoss and Candy drive in enough cattle to feed a lot of families for the next month. Hopefully by then, the mines will begin hiring again. Usually they do more mining in the winter months because ice is a lot easier to get."

"Your Pa is a generous man."

"Roy, you know we lose some cattle every winter. We culled out the thinner ones and older ones thinking we might lose em anyway. It was Adam's idea, and Pa liked it a lot. Well, we all did really. Ifn we might lose em anyway, why not get some good out of em by helping out people who need em."

"You know I might just have a talk with a few of the other ranchers. Everybody must have a few like that. Ifn they know they'll probably lose em anyway, maybe they'd be a mind to donate em to the hungry folks in town. Sure would make em happy and make my job a heck of a lot easier. I sure don't cotton to have to use force on good folks who are just upset cause they can't feed their families."

"Do you think that the mines will be rehiring soon?"

"I'd say so. They're letting the miners stay in the tent camps at no charge, and they gave the ones who are renting places a month's free rent. Seems like they want em to stay. We all know silver prices drop through the basement and then a month or two later, shoot up again. I'm thinking they'll want a supply of silver on hand when that price jumps up. We just gotta get through the next month without any trouble. So far there's no one pushing for a fight so I'm hoping it stays that way."

"I guess we all do. Thanks for the warning. I'll talk with Elaine. She knew that sooner or later people would find out about her past. Now that we're married and that's all well in her past, maybe people will be tolerant. I'm hoping that's true."

"I'm guessing we all do, Adam. Now, I need to get back. It's been wonderful celebrating the holiday with your family. You be sure to give that present to Jon in the morning and tell him it came from Santa."

"Roy, I'll tell him, but that gift might be the one to get him questioning whether there is a Santa or not."

"Just tell him what you used to tell Joe when he was little."

Hoss didn't remember that so had to ask. "What was that?"

"Your older brother told Little Joe that if he didn't believe, Santa wouldn't come. I think Joe mighta been ten or twelve before he was willing to say there was no Santa. Adam was away at school yet so there was no one to remind him that he was supposed to believe."

The three men chuckled as they led the team to the house. Ben and Joe escorted the ladies and Doctor Martin to the carriage. Once everyone was bundled in, Adam and Hoss lit the carriage lanterns to give them some light for travel. It was still light but that would disappear soon as the sun dropped below the mountains. The night was clear though and with a full moon, they should be able to travel safely. Waving goodbye, the men then hurried into the warmth of the house. Adam decided to wait until the day after Christmas to talk with Elaine about what her father was doing. Instead, he decided to ask Hoss about Julia.

"Adam, I just don't know. I been seeing her for two years steady like. And I saw her on and off for a couple years before that. She's friendly and all, but it seems like she don't have the feelings for me that I have for her. I'm thinking I'll give it a bit more time, but if something don't change soon, I ought to be looking elsewhere."

"Hoss, I thought you weren't that fond of the idea of getting married?"

"Well, I seen what you had and what you got, and I'm liking the idea more and more all the time. I wouldn't mind a woman who'd like a passel of kids too."

"Finally. I was beginning to wonder if only one of my sons had any interest in getting married." Ben took his pipe and sat in the red leather chair. He relaxed a bit because he knew that soon his family would be insisting it was time for him to read the annual Christmas stories from literature and from the Bible. A few years earlier, he had thought to pass that job on to Adam, but he and the rest of the family said the tradition should always be the oldest Cartwright, and as long as he was there, they expected him to read the story. Elaine didn't know the tradition, and Ben heard Adam explaining it to her before they sat on the settee with Jon snuggled between them. Hoss and Joe took seats too and waited for Ben to start reading. The anticipation and the waiting were part of the tradition too. Finally, Ben smiled, stood and tamped his pipe on the andiron nearest him, picked up the first of the books before sitting down to begin the reading.

Coffee, hot chocolate, and gingerbread cookies finished the evening. Then lamps were turned down, the fireplace screen was put in place, and doors were checked to be sure they were locked. Adam carried Jon upstairs to his bed and only removed his boots and sweater before pulling the covers over him. He added some wood to the stove in his room before going to the bedroom he now shared with Elaine. She had already snuggled into the bed after putting wood in the fireplace. Adam stripped down as he always did and she watched him in the dim light. When he slipped into bed beside her, he pulled her into an embrace, kissed her, and then said goodnight before laying back on his pillow with his eyes closed.

"That's it? We're still on our honeymoon. This is only our third night together."

"Well we did have all those nights together when we were traveling to meet my family."

"But you weren't in love with me then, and we didn't do anything but sleep."

"You want to do more than that now?"

But even in the dim light, Elaine could see the grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. She punched him lightly on the shoulder making him grin and grab her, and she knew he wanted her as much as she wanted him. "You're a tease. I should teach you a lesson and not do anything with you tonight." He caressed her and kissed the back of her neck before she turned into his embrace letting him know that those were empty words. They kissed passionately and lovingly touched each other until Adam moved to make love to her. It didn't take long for both of them to reach the peak of ecstasy.

Afterwards, Elaine lay back against him feeling his warm breath on her neck and cheek. They lay that way for some time talking about what the next day would bring. Adam told her about the gift that Roy had brought for Jon and whether he should say, as Roy wanted, that it was a gift from Santa. She thought he ought to do what Roy wanted and see what happened. Finally they heard the clock downstairs chime midnight.

"Merry Christmas, sweetheart."

"Merry Christmas, my love."

Chapter 7

As expected, Joe and Jon made enough noise the next morning to wake everyone. Adam and Elaine were the last to walk down the stairs. Joe questioned whether they needed breakfast before they opened gifts and Jon supported him in that, but Ben said that traditionally they ate breakfast first, and Hop Sing would be quite angry if they changed that without telling him.

As soon as breakfast was completed, Hop Sing was leaving for town. The family gave him Christmas as a holiday and snacked on sandwiches and leftovers for the rest of the day. It didn't take long for Hop Sing to have breakfast served, and then Ben presented him with his annual Christmas present of a month's pay as a bonus. Adam, Hoss, and Joe always threw in extra so that the total present was two months' wages. They knew Hop Sing would probably distribute much of the cash among the cousins he had in town as well as help to pay for a feast for all of them. With laundries and other businesses closed for the holiday, it was the only day of the year that most of them could celebrate with the rest of the families.

As Joe and Elaine entertained Jon, Ben delivered cash to the hands who stayed for the winter, and Adam brought them a bottle of whisky and some chocolates from San Francisco while Hoss brought in new decks of cards and a new checkerboard. When all of that was done and wishes for a happy holiday were completed, it was time to open gifts. Most of the gifts were those that were expected. Elaine was amazed at the number of gifts she got. The two gifts that were surprises were a matched set of bracelet and necklace made of jade that Adam gave to his wife. He had asked Hop Sing to have it made. She kissed him on the lips in front of everyone which pleased him a great deal but embarrassed her a little when she realized what she had done. He simply pulled her down beside him on the settee as he picked up Roy's gift for Jon. It was a small light gift and Adam had guessed what it was. Jon's joy when he opened it was delightful to see. Roy had gotten him a small deputy badge. It was shiny and especially impressive to a five-year old.

"Did Santa really give me this? Am I a deputy now? Do I get a gun?"

"Read the note."

Taking his time and sounding out a few words, Jon looked up at last with a puzzled look. "It says that Santa has made me the deputy in charge of the chickens. I'm supposed to protect them from all dangers. It says it's good practice for when I get older so I can be just like my father. Papa that sounds just like something that Sheriff Roy said yesterday. Do you think he knows Santa?"

With a gentle smile, Adam looked at his son. He was relieved that the gift had not brought up the question he feared. "Yes, I'm sure that he's run into Santa a time or two. Yes, you are a deputy here, but no gun. Not for a lot of years." Elaine was hoping it would be never as she heard Adam say that. As she contemplated being a mother, she knew that all she wanted was for Jon to grow up safely and be a good man. Adam must have sensed what she was feeling because she felt his arm wrap around her and a light squeeze from his hand on her shoulder. He looked down at her as she looked up.

"He'll be fine. We are all here to help him and protect him."

"I know, but it's a big responsibility."

Nodding, Adam hugged her tighter. It was the way he felt about his family all the time. He would do anything to protect them, but it was a big responsibility. The day was relaxing though as Adam and Elaine started reading one of his new books together sitting next to each other on the settee with the book held so both could read. Occasionally they would discuss a page before turning to the next one. Hoss and Joe were playing checkers as Jon played with his new toy soldiers on the table in front of the fireplace. Ben waited for the winner of the checkers match because he had pledged to play the winner of the best of three contest between his two youngest sons.

The peacefulness of the day was shattered by a knock on the door. Ben went to answer as the others all went on alert. It was very unusual to have anyone at their door on Christmas day. Ben moved to the credenza and pulled his pistol from his holster before pulling the door open. It was Clem which was an even bigger surprise than having a knock on the door.

"I'm real sorry to bother you on this day, but Roy said you'd want to know. Your cook, Hop Sing has been hurt. He's at Doctor Martin's right now, and it doesn't look good."

Shocked, Ben could only ask one thing. "What happened?"

"Somebody bushwhacked him at the edge of town. With it being the holiday and all, there weren't any witnesses. They beat him badly. We figure he has relatives in the Chinese part of town, but we thought you would have a better idea of who to tell there than we would."

As they talked, Adam was already telling Elaine that he had to go to town. "Why you?"

"I've been to Hop Sing's cousin's house. He's the one who made the jewelry for you. I can find it and tell them what's happened."

"What if this is a ploy to get you and Pa into town? Maybe I should go." Joe was suspicious especially after knowing the talk that Reverend Cargill was spreading in town and that he must be very angry with the Cartwrights in general and Adam specifically for thwarting his plans.

"Then maybe I oughta go with ya." Hoss couldn't bear to see his family riding into potential danger.

"No, we need to keep someone here with Elaine and Jon. What if this is a ploy to get us away from her? Adam is right. He needs to go tell Hop Sing's friends and relatives. I'll go see how Hop Sing is doing. Joe can ride with us to back us up, and Hoss, why don't you ask Candy to come in the house with you. He's like a member of the family and a good man to have if you need him."

In just a short time, Ben was leaving with Adam and Joe. As Adam walked out, Candy slapped him on the shoulder. "Hoss and I'll take good care of them. Don't worry."

"Thank you. I'll be back as soon as I can. Maybe you could play Jon in a chess match. If Elaine helps him a little, he might give you a good one." Candy smiled, and as Adam pulled the door closed, he heard the foreman challenge Jon to a match. Adam was relieved when he heard Jon's enthusiastic agreement to that. It would help keep all of their minds off the trouble in Virginia City. Then Adam remembered that he had not told Elaine what her father had been doing. He had hoped to put that off until the day after Christmas but now realized he would need to do that when he got home. The Christmas holiday joy was shattered beyond repair.

In town, Adam stopped at the doctor's office to get a quick report before going to see Hop Sing's relatives. The news from Doctor Martin was ominous.

"He's bruised and battered all over his body, but what worries me the most are the head injuries. He took at least two hard blows to the head. He isn't communicating at all even though he occasionally is conscious or at least his eyes are open. He can't keep anything down. Even sips of water make him nauseated, and the retching is very bad for the head injuries. So for now, I'm not giving him anything. The next day or two are crucial. I think he has bleeding in his brain. If that doesn't stop, I may have to operate to relieve the pressure. I'll know more by tonight when I see how his symptoms change."

"Change?"

"For better or for worse, Ben. The next twelve hours or so are crucial."

Roy was listening too hoping for a clue to help him in his investigation. "Ben, do you got any idea why they would beat Hop Sing other than this trouble in town about the Chinese miners?"

"He was carrying quite a bit of money. We pay Hop Sing sixty dollars a month, and at Christmas, he gets a month's salary as a gift. My sons usually give another sixty so Hop Sing was carrying at least one hundred and eighty dollars when he left the Ponderosa today."

Doctor Martin interjected that no money was found when Hop Sing was undresses for care in the surgery. Then he went back in to see to his patient.

"Would anyone likely have known that?"

"I can't see how. Anyone who knew was on the ranch and didn't leave today. Some of his relatives might have known because he gets that amount every year at this time."

"So there might be others who know too if that's the pattern?"

Suddenly, all of them knew that Roy was correct. If anyone were asking around, it would be common knowledge that the Cartwrights paid bonuses on Christmas to their employees as well as giving them their month's salary a week early. As was often the case, being too open with such information could lead to a serious consequence as this probably had. With a somber look, Adam left to inform Hop Sing's relatives of what had happened. Ben and Joe went in to see Hop Sing.

As Adam rode down the street, Reverend Cargill watched from his hotel window. Things must have happened as he had wished. He had spent the last few days spreading as much damaging information as he could about his daughter and her husband, but he had also asked a lot of questions and gotten quite a lot of information. He had done what he could to increase the tension among the miners by repeatedly referring to the Chinese who took their jobs. Then just the night before as he harangued some men about drinking, he mentioned that if they were sober hardworking men that one of them could get the salary and bonuses that the Cartwrights paid out on Christmas day. His racist rant took their interest as much as his complaints about their drinking did not.

"Even that heathen cook of theirs gets that kind of money. He won't be celebrating the Lord's birth like the rest of us. He'll be taking his money and going into that Chinatown to pay for all sorts of vile things that those yellow heathens do. Just you wait and see at the edge of town tomorrow morning. You'll see him coming into town like he will own the place soon. He and his kind are taking over. Just wait and see what awful plans they have for you in the new year."

As expected, there were men in that group smart enough to get all the hints he dropped into his spiel. In his mind it was good that now that heathen cook was no longer in the house with whites. He could not tolerate the thought that they could live under the same roof. He took his Bible and sat in the easy chair in the room as he contemplated other ways that he could be the avenging sword of righteousness. His next campaign would be to discredit a doctor who would treat a Chinese in the same office where good white people came for treatment. Then he planned to find a way to meet Jon Cartwright's Aunt Julia. It seemed they might have some common interest if his information was correct.

Before leaving town, Adam escorted two of Hop Sing's cousins to the doctor's office. Ben told Adam that he and Joe would be staying in town until Hop Sing recovered enough to be moved. Joe had already gotten a room for them at the hotel, and both of them had anticipated that and packed extra clothing. Adam went in to say a few words to Hop Sing. He wasn't sure he could hear him but had to say it.

"Hop Sing, you have been my friend for thirty years. Please don't leave our family yet. We need you, and we love you. I love you like a father. Please be well again." With tears in his eyes then, Adam turned and left without saying anything else to anyone. It was very difficult for him to say such things in front of others, but Hop Sing was so important to him that it overwhelmed his natural reticence. Everyone in the room had tears in their eyes after hearing his heartfelt plea. During the first part of the ride home, Adam thought only of his worry, but then he began to wonder who could have been behind such a vicious attack. It was as if lightning struck when Reverend's Cargill's countenance appeared in his mind. It had to be. Adam had no evidence and no proof, but somehow he knew that the racist, vile man who claimed to be a man of God was instead likely the instrument of the devil who had orchestrated this. Adam knew he needed to tell Elaine what her father had been doing, and then question her more about her father. He needed to understand his foe.

Chapter 8

"Adam, you sure about all this?" Hoss trusted Adam with his life, but every now and then, Adam had these theories that seemed to be out on the edge of nowhere. Hoss remembered though how he had accused Bill Enders, and he as well as others wondered how Adam could be so sure he was right. In the end, though, he was right. He had been right about Sam Bryant too, and Hoss still felt guilty about not backing him up that time. He simply wanted reassurance that Adam felt as strongly as he needed to feel.

"Yes and no. No, because I have no evidence. I couldn't prove even one tiny part of this, but yes, because in my heart, I know it. He's coming after us, and this was his opening gambit. It will likely get worse after this."

Sitting on the settee in front of the festive tree and all the other decorations, Elaine felt like she was in another world listening to Adam tell her about her father's activities and what he suspected her father had done to bring about the attack on Hop Sing. She hated to think it was true, but in her heart, she believed it too. "Hoss, I think Adam is right. My father will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. To him, the end always justifies the means."

"Huh?"

"He'll do anything he can to get what he wants."

"But he's supposed to be a man of God?"

"Hoss, my father's God is a mean, nasty God who will take only one hundred and forty-four thousand white people into Heaven. The rest of us will spend eternity in Hell. That's how he sees the world with mostly evil people, and he hopes that somehow God will notice that he is not with the great majority. It drives him."

"Only white people?"

"He believes that God has set a hierarchy of people with whites on the top. The ones going to Heaven will be chosen from that group. No one who is not white can go to Heaven by his beliefs no matter what they do."

"But that's crazy. Hop Sing is one of the nicest people you would ever meet, and Sarah Winnemucca is just as nice. I met a lot of people who aren't white and I expect to see a lot of them in Heaven someday."

"So you are planning to make it to Heaven?"

"I rightly am, Adam, but sometimes I'm not so sure about you."

The jest and the laughter got them to relax just a bit which was exactly what Adam had been hoping to do. He grinned at Hoss for playing along. Elaine was almost too upset to sleep, but at least that had broken the tension for a bit. They went to bed then as each thought about what kind of thing Cargill could do next to make their lives miserable. It was difficult to think about what he actually wanted to do. He was well on his way to ruining Elaine's reputation. It would likely take months or even years for people to forget some of the stories he had been telling. They couldn't challenge him on what he was saying because anyone who checked would find it was the truth. They could claim she was young and desperate, but their friends would already know that was likely the case. Adam hoped that by avoiding town for a while until things calmed down, Elaine might be spared some ugly incidents.

That night as Adam lay in bed next to Elaine, they didn't make love. They took comfort in the kisses and the caresses, but neither was in the mood to do anything more. Adam pulled Elaine to him and soothed her by rubbing her back softly until he felt her soft breathing on his chest slow into a slow steady rhythm that indicated she was asleep. He was awake for another hour or so thinking about Cargill and what might be done about his activities. Without any plan or even the seed of a plan, Adam fell into a restless sleep.

In town, Ben sat with Hop Sing. He thought it rather warm in the room, and frequently got up to get a drink of water. Finally, one of Hop Sing's cousins insisted he leave the room and go get some rest. They worried that his constant movement might disturb their cousin's rest. Once Ben left the room, they discussed the situation in very soft voices wondering if they should say something to the doctor when he next stopped in to check on his patient.

In the morning, they didn't have to say anything. Joe was there very early asking the doctor to go with him to check on Ben who was feverish and coughing. Doctor Martin had a good idea what it was even before he got in the room to do a quick exam of Ben. It confirmed his suspicions.

"Joe, I have bad news. I think your father has influenza. I've had a few cases around town. It's not too bad this time as everyone seems to recover fully, but it will likely be at least a week before he's feeling better. It seems to take a week for the disease to run its course.

"Can't you do anything for him?"

"You're the one who can do that. He needs lots of cool water for this first day. I'll have the general store send over some lemon drop candy. They seem to help soothe the throat."

"I should go over to sit with Hop Sing too."

"That's not a good idea. You've spent the most time with your father in the last day. I'm afraid you're going to have to be the one to care for him, and you need to limit your exposure to other people as well. The two of you are quarantined to the hotel, and Ben has to stay in that room. You can go out to use the washroom, but otherwise, I'll have meals sent up to you. Anything you need, just write a note and leave it outside the door. The hotel staff can bring it to you."

"We'll need some clothing and our shaving kits too."

"I'm certain one of your family will be in town today. They can get you anything that you need. Now I need to get back to Hop Sing. He seemed better this morning, and I'm hoping he'll be conscious." Seeing Joe's look, Paul had to be reassuring. "I'm sure your father will be fine. Hop Sing is a strong man. I'm sure he will be fine too. I'll send word of any change in his condition."

Resigned then to being stuck in the hotel but also glad that he would be able to care for his father, Joe began writing a few notes. One was a list of things he thought he would need from home as well as a detailed explanation of everything Doctor Martin had told him. That one he addressed to Hoss or Adam Cartwright. Then he made a list of things he would like from the general store with a note to put it on the Ponderosa tab. Then he wrote a note to Hoss explaining that Reverend Cargill had been seen having dinner and then lunch with Julia. They seemed to be involved in a very serious conversation according to the desk clerk who had given him that information the day before. Joe had wanted to go see Julia to find out what was going on, but now he knew Hoss would have to do it. Because Adam had been in town the day before, Joe assumed Hoss would be the one in town that day. He wished he could tell him in person so he could offer some solace to what would be a troubling revelation for his big brother, but he had to stay at his father's side. He knew how much his brothers would be upset at not being able to see their father, but he had reassured them as well as he could that Doctor Martin expected him to make a full recovery even if it took a week or more for him to improve markedly.

The weather had warmed significantly melting all the snow that had fallen in the week before Christmas. Instead of icy roads, Hoss had to contend with muddy ones. The trip into town took far longer than usual as a result. When Hoss got all the news about his father and then read the note from Joe about Julia meeting with Reverend Cargill, he didn't know what to do next. He went to the saloon to grab a beer and think a bit. While he was there, he learned more disturbing news. Reverend Cargill was organizing a miners' association to oppose all nonwhite miners in Nevada. He also wanted them to push for only whites having the right to own property in the state. The last provision was against all forms of miscegenation. Hoss wondered what that was, but Cosmo told him when he asked.

"It means no white can marry anyone who isn't white."

"Well that's just crazy talk. There are a lot of white men who married Indian women. What would happen to them?"

"Some men asked Cargill that, and he said that the marriages would be dissolved."

"Well, that's even crazier. Lots of those folks already got kids. Heck, some of em even got grandkids already."

"Cargill said it was the only chance those white men had of getting into Heaven. He said they needed to walk away from their heathen wives and their heathen children. I hope you know I was using his words and not mine. I can't stand the sight of the man and all the hate he spews. Hoss, I'm worried. He's really getting these men riled up. Now I heard the mines will be hiring again by mid-January, but a lot could happen before they do."

"Thanks, Cosmo. For the beer and the information. I got some thinking to do, and I gotta go see Hop Sing."

"Hoss, while you're out there, if you see Roy, send him here."

"Why? You got trouble here?"

"No, but I got a few customers that I know are out of work, but they've been buying whisky and playing cards yesterday and this morning. I heard one of them paid his tab at Cass' store too."

Angry, Hoss leaned over the bar. "Who are they, Cosmo? Which ones are they?"

"Hoss, I'm not going to tell you. It's Roy's job. Now send him over here, please. I don't want to see you get in trouble. Those men belong in jail though. Now calm down and go get Roy."

It took a moment as Hoss gradually calmed and heard what Cosmo had said as it filtered through his brain. Once he accepted that Cosmo was correct, he turned and surveyed the saloon. He saw a few men looking nervously at him. He looked back and Cosmo nodded.

"Now go get Roy. They won't be going anywhere when you leave." Cosmo showed Hoss that he had his shotgun in his hands. Hoss had a grim smile then before he left to find Roy. By the time he and Roy returned, Cosmo was holding his shotgun on three men. "Those are the three, Roy. They've been spending a lot of money for unemployed miners. They all wanted to leave as soon as Hoss did. I persuaded them to stay to talk with you."

"You boys got anything to say?"

Two were somewhat defiant, but the third was a young miner with a pregnant wife. "It wasn't my idea, Sheriff. They talked me into it. They said it wasn't right for the Chinaman to have all that money, and we had none. I held the horse. I never touched him. They beat him. There was another one too but he left town with his share of the money."

"Thank you for the information, but I'm afraid you're going to jail just like the rest of em."

"But Sheriff, I only held the horse. They dragged him outta the carriage and beat him."

"Son, an accomplice is as guilty as the ones who done it. You're the accomplice. You made a real bad decision. Now boys, we're a gonna walk on over to the jail. You can make a statement there."

"How can you charge us with beating a Chinaman? He don't belong here anyway."

"Well, now, you see, the law don't say that. And you didn't just beat him. You stole his money. That amount could get you a prison term. The law especially don't cotton to men who commit robbery. Now come along peaceable like so I don't have to add any more charges."

When the three men were securely locked up, Hoss went to check on Hop Sing. He could at least visit him to see how he was doing. When he walked into the doctor's office, he was surprised to hear talking. It was in Chinese, but he was sure he heard Hop Sing's voice. On entering the room where Paul was treating Hop Sing, Hoss had to grin. His friend was awake and conversing with his cousins. His voice was weak, and he noticeably grimaced as Doctor Martin tightened bandages, but he was going to be all right even if he looked awful with bruises covering his face. He looked up when Hoss entered and did his best to smile with his swollen lips.

"Dadburnit, Hop Sing, you look a sight for sore eyes even if you are a sight."

"So sorry. Not be there to cook dinner for honorable Hoss who most enjoy my cooking."

"Now, don't you worry about that. We still got leftovers. We'll manage somehow when those are gone. You need to take care of yourself."

"How your honorable father?"

"Doc could tell you better than me, but Joe says he's gonna be fine although he's a mite miserable right now."

"Please let cousins help you. They send someone to cook and bring laundry to town."

"Hop Sing, three of the men who did this to you are in jail, and we would be honored to accept your cousins' help. Now, I want to go to the bank and replace the money you lost."

"No, I lose money. My fault."

"That's not how I see it, and you ain't in no shape to stop me doing what I think is right. You know my whole family would do the same ifn they could. Now you rest easy. I'll get some money and be right back." By the time Hoss returned, he had a grim expression. On the way to the bank and then back, he had endured taunts about his sister-in-law and about Hop Sing. He knew then that Cosmo was correct. Cargill had riled up the miners and they were in a nasty mood. He saw Roy before he left town.

"Roy, I'm worried about what's gonna happen next. As soon as I can, I'm gonna pick up Hop Sing and bring him back to the ranch. You gonna need any help here?"

"I hope not, Hoss, but I know what you mean. The town is like a powder keg now, and we're only hoping no one lights the fuse."

"Except we both know there's one man who would only be too happy to light that fuse."

"Yes, and I wish I had some reason to send him packing, but I don't."

"Too bad it ain't against the law to be a miserable lowdown cur."

Cargill was walking toward them at that point, and Hoss talked loud enough for the Reverend to hear. "Ah, as the brother of the man who took a whore into the family, I could see how you must be upset by all that is happening. Your family is bringing a lot of trouble down on itself. If you would just see the light, all could be well with you and yours. Just send that whore packing, and hire only honest white folks."

A small crowd had gathered waiting to see what would happen in this confrontation. They were disappointed when Roy encouraged Hoss to leave without saying or doing anything. As Hoss rode out of town, the crowd would have dispersed except now Reverend Cargill had an audience. He craved audiences and began to regale them with stories about cowardice from the Bible as he understood it. No one had thought Hoss Cartwright a coward, but they had just seen him ride away from Cargill's challenge. It made them wonder. Soon Cargill had exaggerated tales of how his speech had sent Hoss Cartwright running back home. Cargill had a talent for drawing and soon had a caricature of Hoss riding away from his heroic figure as he lambasted whores, sinners, and cowards. He had similar drawings of Adam as a runaway from the law and his daughter as a painted lady. He posted them in saloons all over town. The respectable establishments removed them as soon as he walked out the doors, but the seedier places left them in place noticing how some of their patrons seemed drawn to them. Anything that increased business was a boon so they left them hanging.

Chapter 9

"I tell ya, Adam, I wanted to kill him right there. I don't think I ever had to hold myself back as much as I did today. First there were those three who done beat on Hop Sing and stole his money. Then that Cargill insulting Elaine and just being downright nasty."

"But Pa's going to be all right?"

"Yeah, Doc Martin says a week for the worst of it and then maybe two or three weeks of taking it easy until he gets his strength back. Dadburnit, Adam, I wanted to see if we could take Pa home here, but Doc says not for a while yet, maybe a week even. We can bring Hop Sing home though tomorrow if he keeps doing all right."

"The carriage ride wouldn't be too much for him?"

"Doc said to bring a wagon and put a mattress in the back for him so he can lay out flat. Said he'd be more comfortable that way. Two of his cousins would come with him. That way they can do the cooking and such but still have time to take care of Hop Sing. Oh, and I went to the bank and replaced the money that they stole from him."

"Thank you. I was thinking we should do that, so I'm glad you did. Now, if you're ready, we've got more bad news. The thaw softened the slope up at the timber camp and a pile of logs crashed into the flume. I've got to go up there and help. I might be gone for a few days until I get everything ready to go again. At least that's one we know Cargill didn't do unless he can control the weather."

"Something else musta gone wrong. When I got back, I saw Candy and some of the men coming in looking all muddy."

"Yes, the thaw broke some of the ice on the creek in the lower pasture. It made an ice dam and flooded the area. A bunch of cows got caught in the mess, and Candy led a group out there to get them out of the mud. He said the water is flowing around the ice jam now so it won't get any worse for the time being. Whenever it freezes up again, I'll go set some charges and blow it apart so it doesn't create a problem with the next thaw."

"I'm surprised you didn't head up to the timber camp already."

"I would have, but with Pa in town, I had some contracts to read over and sign. They're on the desk. I'll need you to post them tomorrow. Hopefully, you can bring Hop Sing back here because that would help. Joe was supposed to be in Carson City on Friday to finish up a horse contract. I'll have to do that too, so I'll go there directly from the timber camp. You and Candy will have to handle things here."

Dinner was fairly quiet. They had to explain to Jon that Grandpa was sick and had to stay in town until he felt better. They already told him the day before that Hop Sing had gotten hurt and would have to stay in town until he felt better. Jon asked about Uncle Joe and was told he was taking care of his grandfather.

"Papa, I don't think you should go to town. People go to town and don't come home again. I want you to come home."

"Well, I won't be going to town. I have to go up to the timber camp to help fix a flume."

"What's a flume?"

Explaining what a flume was and how it worked got Jon's mind off of the trouble the family was experiencing. He still didn't know that his other grandfather was in town and making trouble. He knew there was more going on because he got sent from the room fairly frequently lately or he noticed the adults talking in whispers so that he wouldn't hear the conversation. He was getting fairly worried about his family.

"Dadburnit, I forgot I got a list from Joe of things he wanted from home here. I got the list of stuff he wanted from Cass' store sent over to him, but I plumb forgot about this list til now. Oh heck, I wasn't gonna be able to bring it to him before tomorrow anyway." As Hoss unfolded the list, the note to him from Joe fell to the floor. He picked it up and read it before turning to Adam. "Now what do you suppose he's up to? Joe says Cargill had lunch and dinner with Julia, and they seemed real friendly."

"Uncle Hoss, I thought you said that Miss Julia was your gal?"

"I thought so too, little man. I thought so too."

Realizing that Jon was getting too involved in the family discussion of problems with Cargill, Adam had to distract him. "Jon, I'm going to be gone for a few days so how about a game of chess tonight and some reading. I have to do enough to take care of the nights I'll be gone."

"Aw, you just done that so you don't have to help clean up and do the dishes."

"Well, I am the older, smarter brother."

"You keep talking like that, and I may have to take you outside and dunk you in a horse trough."

"You'd have to catch me first."

"Won't be too hard with that big head of yours."

Jon was laughing because he could tell they were teasing each other. Their grins belied their taunts and threats. Soon he and his father were setting up the chessboard. Adam looked up over Jon's head to see Elaine smiling at him. He nodded and smiled back. By the time Jon went to bed, Adam assumed he had forgotten all about the problems that had been plaguing the family. He saw how forlorn Hoss looked though and motioned to the stairs with his head. Elaine understood that he wanted a moment alone with his brother, and she headed up to their bedroom. She hoped it wouldn't take too long because she wanted some of Adam's time as well. With Ben sick in town and Joe there to care for him, a lot had been thrust on Adam's shoulders. She wondered what he wanted to say to Hoss but knew Adam would tell her when he got to their room.

"Hoss, I'm sorry this mess had grabbed you too. Maybe Julia's meeting with Cargill is only social. She is a nice woman and perhaps wanted to be kindly toward him."

"Thanks for trying, Adam, but we both know that the two of them together isn't good. She's fallen under his spell or she's helping him with something, or maybe he's helping her. Don't matter that much, I guess. It's probably all over between us. I knew something was wrong all along. All this time and she never seems to want to talk about the future. I'm wondering now if she was dragging me along for some reason only she knows."

Remembering then what Barbara had often said about her sister being single-minded in pursuit of whatever she wanted, Adam was worried too. The only connection he could see was Jon. He wondered if Julia had stuck it out with Hoss to make sure she always had access to Jon. He knew they would know soon enough. "If she's joined forces with Cargill, we'll know soon enough. He isn't known for subtlety. He'll wallop us again with something."

"We can't do anything about it tonight. Let's get some sleep. We got a lot to do tomorrow. I got all that stuff to bring to Joe, and I'm gonna stop in to see Julia too. I want to know exactly where I stand with her, and I want to know what she and Cargill have been discussing."

"Don't push too hard, Hoss. Cargill is up to enough without egging him on."

"I know. He's just crazy mad at you and Elaine. Ever wonder what makes him that way?"

"He's a fanatic. Fanatics get so wrapped up in what their goal is that they forget about everything else. He's trying so hard to get to Heaven that he forgot the only way to get there. His behavior is anything but what would get him a place he so desperately wants. He should show his faith by following God's rules instead of trying to get other people to follow his rules."

"His rules seem to be that everybody ought to do what he says."

"Yes, fanaticism and that kind of desire for absolute power do seem to go together. Crazy or not, though, he's dangerous. We all need to be on alert."

"Yeah, I was thinking that with both of us gone tomorrow, I'd ask Candy to hang around here with one of the hands. Can't hurt to be careful."

With that, the two brothers finished securing the house for the night and headed up to bed. Hoss dropped into a troubled sleep, but Adam had someone to offer comfort to him. He slipped into bed in the darkened room thinking that Elaine had gone to sleep but instead found that she had been waiting for him.

"You're going to be gone for a few days. I was wondering if you needed your sleep or if you thought perhaps a little cuddling and snuggling were in order?"

Pressing his body into hers, Adam loved the feel of her soft warmth against his hard body. She enjoyed the same sensation. "Sweetheart, if we snuggle and cuddle like this, there's going to be a whole lot more happening that just that."

"I was counting on that, cowboy. Like I said, you're going to be gone for a few nights. You told Jon you had to do enough to hold him through the nights you were going to be gone. I could say the same except I'm not interested in chess or reading a book right about now."

As Elaine had talked, Adam's hands had been roaming and his lips had been moving across her neck and to her upper chest. When she finished her request for attention, he moved closer to her. "Now, no more talking." Elaine kissed him then plunging her tongue into his mouth surprising him at first, but soon their tongues were dueling as his hand continued to caress her. When they finished their lovemaking, he slipped from the bed making her wonder what was wrong. She didn't have to worry for long. She heard water splashing into the basin and he was back. Adam pulled the covers from her and began bathing her. When she felt he had done enough of that, she reached for the cloth and dipped it in the basin of water on the table next to the bed. She washed him then gently.

"Sweetheart, if you do any more of that, we're going to have to have another session of loving." Elaine smiled and tossed the cloth into the basin. "We can sleep now. You need your rest."

Slipping into bed then, Adam pulled the covers up to their shoulders as Elaine spooned into him. They snuggled down into the warmth of the bed and were just falling asleep when Jon's screams woke them. Adam quickly grabbed his robe and rushed to his son's room next door. Jon was sitting up in bed staring wild-eyed at the darkness. Adam sat beside him and embraced him as he soothed him by rubbing his back and talking softly to him. Gradually Jon relaxed. Hoss and Elaine were standing in the doorway by then.

"It's all right. He had a bad dream. Elaine, you can go back to bed. I'll be there as soon as I can. Hoss, it's all right."

"Papa, I dreamed you were hurt really bad and Mama was hurt real bad too. You won't leave me, will you? I dreamed I was all alone because everybody left."

"I won't leave you like that. You'll always have me. Now, how about if you lie down and try to sleep again? I'll stay her with you."

"Don't leave me, Papa, please?"

"I won't leave you. Now try to sleep, please?" Adam, with an arm wrapped around Jon, guided them both down to the pillow. After pulling a blanket up over Jon, Adam stayed there until he heard Jon's breathing soften and become steady. He thought he ought to stay just a bit longer to make sure Jon was in a deep and restful sleep. That's how Elaine found them the next morning. She had to awaken Adam because he needed to get up to the timber camp. Jon awakened too and was surprised to see his father next to him.

"Did you sleep with me all night?"

"Yes, I guess so. I slept well. How about you?"

"Me too, Papa. I slept well. Thank you, Papa."

"Now I do need to get going. I'll see you at the breakfast table. That is, if we have any breakfast." Looking hopefully at Elaine, Adam saw her smile.

"It's pretty basic. I made scrambled eggs, biscuits, and bacon. There's coffee too, but it might be a bit bitter. I don't know how Hop Sing makes such delicious coffee."

"Thank you. I'll be down as soon as I shave."

Within an hour, Adam and Hoss were on their way. Adam was thinking about what Cargill might do next, and Hoss went to town and found out. Hoss made a quick trip to the hotel to check on his father. Joe looked exhausted when he opened the door to the room.

"Sorry, Hoss, Doc says I can't let anybody in because if they're exposed, they have to stay here too."

"How's Pa?" But the coughing that came from the room was answer enough.

"The fever is up but not too bad. He coughs like that constantly if I don't keep him sipping some hot tea. Neither of us is getting much rest. Doc says another day of this and he should start improving although it will be slow. He thinks Pa won't be ready to go home for a week."

"You need anything else?"

"Just some help, and nobody can do that. Thanks for all the stuff you had sent over here. You got my note?"

"Yeah, and Adam and me talked about it some. I'm gonna go talk to her about it, but now I ought to leave you alone. I got more errands to run."

"Bye Hoss. Tell everyone at home that things seem to be all right here. Nothing more to worry about."

Hoss nodded without telling Joe about the trouble with the timber camp. Next he stopped at Doctor Martin's where he was relieved to find out that Hop Sing was ready to go home. With the cousins' help, Hoss got Hop Sing into the wagon, and then headed to the general store to pick up supplies. He had left a list with them. On the way to town, he had decided that he didn't have time that day to talk with Julia. He planned to be back in town the next day when he hoped to confront her and find out what was going on. He didn't have to wait that long. Roy stopped him as he was about to drive the wagon out of town.

Chapter 10

"Hoss, is Adam at home?"

"No, he isn't Roy. What's up?"

"I got a notice of a legal action that I have to get to Adam. Where is he?"

"He went up to the timber camp. A flume got busted, and he needs to get it fixed before the ground freezes up again. What kind of legal action?"

"Well, you ain't a gonna like this, but Julia is petitioning for custody of Jonathan. She says that Adam isn't a fit parent."

"Well, that's just crazy talk. Adam's the best father any boy could have. Besides now that he married Elaine, Jon's got a new mama too."

"That's part of her complaint. She says Adam showed a pattern of behavior with ladies in fancy houses, and now he brought one into his house exposing his young son to that too."

"Oh, Roy, that's a bunch of malarkey. Who'd believe any of that anyway?"

"Now you know I don't, and none of your friends do, but Hoss, this town is getting more stirred up all the time. Who knows what would happen if this got to a judge? Lots of people are mad at the Cartwrights now. They think you are all on the Chinese side in this dispute. Seeing you giving a ride to three Chinese out to your place is only gonna make that talk even stronger. That's another part of the complaint. It says that Jonathan's mother was a good Christian, and now he's exposed to heathen influences because Hop Sing is your cook."

"Roy, you know who put her up to this filling her head with all this nonsense. I ain't got time now, but I'm coming back into town tomorrow to have a talk with her. When is this hearing supposed to be?"

"As soon as the circuit judge makes his stop here. He's in Carson now, so I expect him this week."

"Dadburnit, I'll have to send somebody up to the timber camp to tell Adam. He was supposed to go to Carson when he finished there so I guess I'll have to do that. This is just such a bad time with Pa sick, Joe quarantined with him, and then this had to happen to Hop Sing."

"Hoss, I got more bad news. The three who were charged with that got bailed out this morning by Reverend Cargill. He hired a lawyer to defend them too."

"That's just great. Roy, I knew I shoulda pounded their heads together yesterday. They might get away with this now."

"I think they'll probably leave town. They rent their homes and all three are out of work. My guess is they'll head to another mining town."

"Well, I got enough of a load to carry now. I'll be heading home. I'm purty darn sure Adam will be in to see you in a couple of days. Could you hand over any legal papers on this to our lawyer? I'll stop in and see him tomorrow."

"I can do that, Hoss, and I'm real sorry to have to add to the problems all of you got right now." With that, Roy raised his hand in farewell as Hoss drove the wagon from town. Hop Sing and his cousins had heard it all, and soon were talking in Chinese wondering if there was anything that they could do.

From his hotel window, Joe watched. At first, he had been quite relieved to see Hop Sing in the wagon and presumably headed home. Then he saw Roy hail Hoss and talk with him. Even from the distance of the hotel across the street, Joe could see how angry Hoss got as Roy talked with him. It was very difficult sitting in this hotel room knowing his family was facing lots of trouble and not being able to do anything about it. Then Ben coughed, and Joe had to go to him to give him sips of water to soothe his throat. He knew that soon there would be another pot of tea or cup of broth outside the door for him. There would be a knock, and when he opened the door, it would be there. He hadn't seen anyone else except Hoss at the door and the doctor. With cases of influenza showing up all over the city, there weren't many visits by the doctor either who had to deal with patients in a lot worse shape than his father who actually seemed a bit better even though the fever was up. His cough was productive now instead of the dry hacking cough that had caused him so much pain. Joe sat at the side of the bed and held a spoonful of water to his father's lips. As Ben realized it was there, he opened his mouth without opening his eyes. It took too much effort to do both. Joe spooned in nearly half of the cup of water before his father shook his head slightly and opened his eyes. In a terribly hoarse and scratchy voice, he asked Joe what was happening with the family. Joe had no answers and told him why. They had done this several times that day already. His father's fever made it too difficult for him to think and remember from one period of wakefulness to the next. Ben remembered that Cargill was there telling tales about Elaine and that Hop Sing had been hurt, but he didn't know all the things that had happened since then.

"I saw Hoss, Pa. He's taking Hop Sing home. He's going to be all right. I saw two of his cousins in the wagon too so I'm guessing they'll be helping out."

"Good. Good. I'm so tired, Joe. I think I'll sleep a little."

After pulling the covers up to his father's shoulders, Joe touched him and realized that he was sweating a great deal. He assumed that was a good sign and meant that the fever was breaking. He sat back in the chair by the window to watch the world go by. He had a lot of questions but no one was there to answer any of them.

Up at the timber camp, Adam had found more problems than he had anticipated. The loggers had heard rumors that the Cartwrights were in financial trouble and couldn't pay salaries as promised. "Jake, we've been through this before. The only reason we wouldn't be able to pay salaries is if the men stop working. Then we wouldn't meet our contracts, which would create a financial problem. Even then, you know we would pay in scrip which would be good at every store and other establishment in town because everyone of them would know it was only a temporary problem."

"I know that, Adam, but you need to convince the men of that, and you know there's really only one way."

"Yeah, I know. Who's the biggest mouth on this one?"

"Timber Jack."

Groaning, Adam looked over at Jake who had a slight grin. "You don't have to be so amused that the biggest man in camp is the one I have to tackle."

"Just know that he only swings with his right. He's never learned to fight proper cause he's so big. He's got no footwork at all and leaves himself wide open. Usually he wins because he can just toss the other guy around. Don't let him grab you though. He might break a rib if he gets his arms around you."

"Thanks. You're always such a big help. I'm wondering why we keep you on as the boss up here."

"Cause anybody else woulda just let you go into it blind and get your sorry butt whupped proper. Now go out there and straighten this mess out like a bull of the woods ought to."

After some yelling and hollering, there was a fight that left both men sore, but Timber Jack's sore spot was going to last a lot longer than any that Adam had. Adam walked over to the man he had defeated and offered him a tin cup. Timber Jack was going to refuse until he got a whiff of it. Then he gratefully accepted the cup and downed it in one gulp.

"That was right mean what you did."

"Yeah, it was."

"Guess I shoulda expected it though after I near squeezed the air oughta you."

"Yeah, you should have."

"Still, it ain't that offen that a man wins a fight by kicking back like that right into a man's privates. Dang, it even hurts to say it."

"Yeah, that's true too."

"Course I woulda probly broke some of your ribs ifn you hadn't."

"Yeah, you came close as it was."

"Nice of you to give me some whiskey to ease the pain."

"I told Jake you can have another belt with dinner. It ought to help you sleep tonight."

"I won't make no more trouble for ya. It was just that I heard that in town when I was getting supplies, and I didn't have no money for a drink, and I got kinda ornery about it all."

"We have an allowance in the budget for whiskey."

"Yeah, but we kinda overdid it on Christmas and none of us was fit to work the next day. Jake was mad, and didn't put any on the supply list when he sent me to town. I didn't know it until I was loading up, and there wasn't none there."

"I'll talk to Jake about that. Now, you think you can get up and get some work done today, or do you need the afternoon off?"

"I ain't no durn girl. Course I can work." Timber Jack stood then and grimaced. "Course walking might be a might uncomfortable for a while. Dang, you got quite a kick."

Chuckling then, Adam walked with his former opponent to the site of the flume that needed repair. Inside though, he was fuming. Obviously, Cargill was targeting the whole family and not just his daughter and her husband. Once he got a look at the damaged flume, he knew he wouldn't be able to head home for at least two days. He started giving instructions to the men on what to do next to get the site ready for the repairs that needed to be done. Then he set some other men on cutting the timbers they would need and barking some logs for supports. He sent a third crew to load a sledge with rocks that they could use to create a foundation for some of the weaker areas of the slope. He planned to set posts down as deep as he could and then pile rocks above and below each bulwark so that the slope would be stabilized. Once that was done, the flume could be rebuilt over the solid foundation. By late in the day, they had begun setting the posts when a rider came in with a message for Adam from Hoss.

"Damn!"

"Trouble, boss?"

"The same man who started the rumors that caused the trouble here has stirred up even more trouble for me. I can't go take care of it though until I get this mess straightened out."

"What kind of trouble?"

"He's stirring up people against the Chinese and got Hop Sing beaten and robbed. Now he's got Barbara's sister in court claiming I'm not a fit parent for my son."

"That's a shame about Hop Sing. He sent up some nice food for our Christmas. He's always doing stuff like that." A little reluctantly, Jake mentioned another thing that they had heard. "Timber Jack said he heard stories about your wife too."

"They're true, Jake, but it's all in her past. Lots of men up here know what it's like to have a past they'd rather not remember."

"Yeah, and we're grateful the Cartwrights never held it against any of us. I'll let the men know what's going on. You need any help from us, you know we'll be there for you."

"Thanks, Jake, that means a lot, but I don't know how anyone can help me. Reverend Cargill is Elaine's father."

Work progressed as expected, and a very dirty, tired, and sore Adam arrived home very late two days later. Jon was already in bed when Hoss heard a horse ride in. Hoping it was Adam and not more trouble, he went outside and was relieved to see his brother walking into the stable with Sport. Inside the stable, Adam began unsaddling his horse grunting with the pain of every movement. Hoss got there and had to ask what was wrong.

"First of all, I had to be the bull of the woods with Timber Jack."

"Why? I thought that all got sorted out last time."

"Well, someone was spreading tales in town that we couldn't meet our payroll. You can guess who that was, but I think we both know."

"Well, you must have won that fight, but that was at least two days ago. Why are you still so hurting?"

"My boots were muddy, and when I was up on the flume today finishing up, I fell off. Luckily the ground is still soft but I slid down the slope and tumbled into a tree. Gave the men quite a good laugh after they found out I hadn't killed myself."

"Go on inside. I'll take good care of Sport."

Adam blew out a breath, which made him grimace, and then nodded. "Thank you."

By the time he began walking to the house, Elaine had grabbed a shawl and come outside. She stepped up to kiss him, but it was brief. He was scruffy, dirty, and smelled like he had been working without a chance to bathe. He looked down at her and smiled softly.

"I need a bath and a shave. Then I can greet you properly."

"Go right into the washroom. I'll get some water heating, and I'll get towels and your robe. Hop Sing is back, but he's resting in the guest room. His cousins are handling things, but their English is very limited."

"Send one into the washroom. I'll tell him what I need."

"You can speak Chinese?"

"Enough to tell them the basics. Hop Sing has taught us a few words over the years. There are a few that Pa would rather we not use, but most of them are for things like hot water and such."

Soon Adam was soaking in a tub of warm water. Elaine had been shocked to see the bruises and abrasions on him. She waited until he was leaning back in the soapy water before she asked him what happened so he told her the whole story. She sighed.

"So my father almost got you killed."

"Timber Jack wouldn't have killed me. Well, at least not on purpose. The worst of the bruises and such happened when I fell. I was in a hurry and should have been more careful than I was."

"And that is my father's fault. You wouldn't have been so anxious to get going if he hadn't gotten Julia to file that petition."

"Enough of that. I've been dreaming about a sweet homecoming with my wife, and I don't want to talk about your father and ruin that. Now, do you suppose you could help me wash my back and my hair?"

Smiling at that invitation, Elaine grabbed the soap and started lathering up her hands as Adam leaned forward. She gently washed his back and neck before sliding her hands around and down his chest. Then she washed his hair using a pitcher of water to rinse the soap from it. Adam looked up and smiled at her before sinking back down into the warm water. "That was the best bath I've ever had."

Soon after standing and being dried off by his wife, Adam slipped into his robe. In the kitchen, the two grinning cousins had a sandwich and cup of coffee ready for him. Adam gave them his thanks before gulping down the sandwich. He hadn't eaten since breakfast early that morning. The next morning, he was stiff and sore, but was able to make love with his wife before they had to get up. Jon was thrilled that his father was home, and then dismayed when he found out that Adam and Elaine had to go to town.

"We'll be back by dinner. Then tonight maybe we can read, or sing, or play chess?"

"Could we do all of those?"

"Maybe, son, maybe. Now give me a hug." Then Adam and Elaine headed out to Virginia City with Hoss who would be going on to Carson City after they met with Roy and with their attorney.

Chapter 11

"What do you mean you don't know what's going on?"

"Pa, I've been quarantined here with you. I took care of you since you got sick. I can't go out and talk to anyone, and nobody can come here and talk with me. I'm in the dark as to what's going on."

"But you said you saw Adam and Elaine walking with our attorney?"

"Yes, and it looked like they had some serious talking to do."

"Did you see Hoss?"

"I saw him walk by earlier. He looked downright angry. I have no idea why. Then I saw him mount up and ride off but not toward home. I haven't seen Adam or Hoss in a couple of days. Doc said he told Hoss that you were getting better, but it would be two more days before he would release us from quarantine. He still thinks I might get it. Then we'd be here for another week. I don't know why Adam hasn't stopped by."

"Help me get dressed. We're going out there to find out what's going on."

"Pa, we can't. You could infect people with influenza. Do you really think you would be helping Adam by exposing him to this?"

"Of course I wouldn't be helping by exposing him, but I could keep my distance."

"Pa, we don't even know how it's spread. All we know is when people have a lot of contact with people who are sick, there's a good chance they might get sick too. You need to stay here for two more days. I know it's difficult. I've been here with you the whole time. We just have to trust that Adam and Hoss can handle things."

"But Cargill is trying to make things miserable for Adam."

"I know that. I've been watching him and keeping track of who he's been meeting, talking to, and walking with. I got a pretty good view of things from the window here, and he doesn't have any idea he's being watched. I saw him talking with three guys and then later Roy arrested those three. I have to think they must be the ones who beat up Hop Sing. I saw him meet Julia, and I sent a note to Hoss to tell him that. He's been meeting with a lot of miners too. I've kept track of when and who for each of those that I saw."

Before he could respond, Ben had another coughing spell. It was what convinced him that his youngest son was correct. He needed to stay in this room, but now he and Joe could work together on this project. He hoped it would help Roy build a case against Cargill for some of the things he had caused to happen or things that would happen because of his activities. There was a knock on the door, and their midday meal was delivered. The two men sat by the window eating their lunch and watching for any sign of Cargill.

Before riding to Carson, Hoss had stopped by to see Julia. It was long overdue in his mind. She didn't want to let him in the house, but he said if she didn't, he'd call her out on her porch. Not wanting her neighbors to hear, Julia allowed him to enter.

"Why are you trying to do this to Adam and Jon?"

"Because it's the right thing to do. My sister would be appalled to know that her son is being raised by a common painted woman. She made her living by being with men, Hoss. How could Adam ever think of being with her. He's lost whatever little good sense and morality he had. Jon would be much better off with me living in a proper Christian home."

"When did you decide to sit in judgment of other people? You hardly know Elaine, and you don't know what she's been through. After meeting her father, I can see how she ran away from home. She was too young though and got herself in a jam. Happens to lots of folks and then they work their way out sometimes. She did."

"She can't change her past. She's a sinner and shouldn't be in charge of a young boy."

"She isn't. We all are. Adam's the father, but we all help out. Jon has more attention than most boys his age. He's got a father and a family who love him dearly and protect him."

"But who's protecting his soul?"

"You've been talking to Cargill. I know. He's twisted your thoughts. Ifn you was thinking straight, you'd know better than this."

"Hoss, I know you want to court me. If I said yes and we got married, we could take care of Jon. You'd make a great father."

"You think you can bribe me to turn on my brother and my nephew. I thought I knew you, but I guess I didn't. You'll see me in court. I'll be the one standing by Adam and Jon backing up their right to be a family with Elaine too."

"You don't want to court me?"

"No, I reckon I don't. Here all this time I thought I'd be happy if you said I could court you, but all it does now is turn my stomach. I got business to take care of so I'll be taking my leave. Maybe you ought to go see our minister and ask how God can forgive you for what you're doing."

"I'm doing God's work."

"You're doing somebody's work but it surely ain't His. I'm thinking you gotta look a heck of a lot lower for the one you're working for." Hoss put on his hat and walked out of her house never looking back. He met with Adam and Elaine before heading to Carson City.

Later, in the courthouse, Adam and Elaine met with the judge. Their lawyer was at their side but the judge had asked for an informal conference. He was the same judge who had overturned Adam's conviction for murder when he had been wrongly convicted and sentenced to death only a year earlier.

"You do seem to have a habit of getting yourself into some tight spots. Now I remember both of you well. I saw nothing in that hearing to suggest that you weren't responsible people, but I have to have a hearing on this petition. Now, it claims some outlandish things in here. It says for one that you are exposing your son to heathen practices."

"We attend church services here in Virginia City regularly. I can bring in the minister to verify that if I have to. We have a Chinese cook who has been with the family since I was a boy."

"I assumed as much. Now, it also says that you have continued your less than savory activities involving painted ladies in fancy houses."

"Your Honor, I think we made it clear what kind of job Elaine took to survive. She left that life to be with me. I love her, and we married a few days before Christmas. She is my wife, and now she's my son's stepmother. Nothing immoral has happened."

"I know this next question is intrusive, but I have to ask. It may come up in the hearing. Were the two of you having marital relations before you married?"

"No, we were not. I'll swear to that on a Bible."

"No need. I can tell you're telling the truth. After all the years I've spent in courtrooms, I can usually tell, and I learned a lot about you at our previous meeting. I can't see any evidence that anything has changed. Now tell me why you think this petition has been filed against you."

Adam looked over at his lawyer who nodded. He couldn't see any reason not to tell the judge what had been happening. After about a half hour, Adam and Elaine finished telling the story.

"So, it's not over yet. If I rule on your behalf, he'll still be trying to make trouble for you?"

After Adam nodded, the judge shrugged. "Very well. We'll take things as they come. The formal hearing will be tomorrow morning. Please bring your son here." He noted Adam's stiffening and his stony demeanor. "Don't worry. I won't let him be exposed to any ugliness, but I should talk with him. He trusts me I think. We need to do this according to the letter of the law. Once I've talked with him, he and his stepmother can leave the courtroom and wait for you someplace. There is a place where they could safely go, isn't there?" The lawyer volunteered the law office, so all was settled in that regard.

As Adam settled legal matters in Virginia City, Hoss saw to another problem in Carson City. He was there to finish up some work on horse contracts that Joe had negotiated, but instead he saw the three men who had beaten Hop Sing. They were sitting at the stage station. Hoss asked someone who said the connecting stage heading to Reno wouldn't be there until afternoon. He walked rapidly to the sheriff's office and explained that three men had jumped bail and were apparently fleeing the jurisdiction. With a quick telegram to Virginia City, the sheriff headed over to the stage depot with Hoss and a deputy. The three men knew immediately that they were in more trouble and didn't even resist. Once they were locked up and the answer to the telegram came from Sheriff Roy Coffee in Virginia City, the sheriff looked over at Hoss as they sat and drank bitter jailhouse coffee that had been heating for hours.

"You know they're never gonna be convicted for beating a Chinaman?"

"I know. Pretty tough to get a jury of white men to be unanimous on that, but I can hope."

"Now that robbery charge is likely to stick. Not even the most racist white juror is going to be willing to ignore robbery, I think."

"What we really need out of those three is for them to tell us who put em up to it. Not one of em seems smart enough to have planned this all out including the running away."

"Men like that tend to stick together. Going to be difficult to get one to break."

"How about trying to get them to break together?"

"Now how would we do that?"

"Well, you could tell em that you'll drop the assault charge and only charge em with robbery if they tell you who put em up to the beating."

"You know, I heard your Pa was very smart, and I heard your older brother is really smart. I met your younger brother and he's pretty clever, but you got a great mind on you too. We drop the charge we could never get a conviction on in order to get information on who's behind the trouble. That's darn near brilliant. I got to check with the judge on that, but it sounds promising. I'll send a wire soon as I can."

"Anything wrong with right now?"

"Someone has to watch the jail with three prisoners in back. My deputies all have duties in the morning and I hold down the office."

"I could watch the office so you could send that wire."

Pulling out a drawer and tossing a badge on the desk, the sheriff smiled. "Pin that on, and agree to take those three back to Virginia City for me, and you got a deal."

"I got some business to do in town later today."

"Not a problem. As a special deputy, you only have to watch the office for the next few minutes, and then pick those three up tomorrow and head back on the stage with em. The Virginia City stage is an early one."

Nodding, Hoss picked up the badge and pinned it to his shirt. The sheriff left to send another wire to Virginia City to see if the judge would agree that one charge could be dropped if the accused would give information on who had encouraged them to commit the crimes. The schemes that Cargill had set in motion were beginning to unravel, but he had no idea that it was so. His first big surprise was the next day in court.

That night, after Jon was in bed, Hoss sat talking with Adam and Elaine. He had arrived home only minutes before. He explained he would have been home sooner as signing the contracts had taken only a short time, but then he had to take the three prisoners to Roy before he could come home.

"Boy, they was singing like birds when I left. They couldn't talk fast enough to tell Roy all that Cargill has been doing. And with the notebook Joe was keeping, Roy thinks he may have enough of a case to at least order him to leave town. He might even be able to have him charged with inciting mayhem. He said he'd talk to the judge tomorrow."

"Wait a minute, what notebook?"

"Adam, Joe's been watching out that hotel room window. He has a record of everyone he's seen with Cargill. The three men who roughed up Hop Sing met with him just before they left town. It backs up their story that Cargill gave em the money and told them what to do."

Adam was surprised and pleased. "So Joe's been watching and taking notes. The boy is a natural born detective."

"He is something, ain't he? Who'd a thought that would help us out so much? Anyway, now that Pa is feeling a might better, he's watching out the other window. Nobody can see em or hear em. It's too cold to have the windows open. They watch and keep track and nobody knows."

"Pa is feeling better then?"

"Yup, I only saw him for a minute, but he's up outta bed. He's still coughing some, but it ain't bad like it used to be."

Wrapping an arm around Elaine who sat next to him, Adam blew out his breath. "It certainly would be nice to have this over with. Jon needs some quiet time with family, and I think all of us could use the same. We had a good time tonight. He insisted on singing, reading, and playing chess. It was like he wanted to get as much family time as he could."

"Well, I'm plumb tuckered out. I'm heading to bed. You two gonna turn in soon? We got a big day tomorrow."

As soon as Adam checked the doors and turned down the lamps, he headed upstairs. Elaine was in bed, but there was still a lamp lit in their room. At first, he thought she might want some intimacy, but the look on her face belied that.

"Adam, this is all my fault. It's my mistakes that have brought my father here to cause all this trouble. Poor Jon is being targeted now, so maybe I should go away."

Shocked, Adam stopped in the midst of undressing. He stared at her and then got a bit angry. "You can't run away. It doesn't help. I would think you would know that by now."

"I'm not running away. But maybe if I left for a bit, it would help. Then they would have no case that you're an unfit father for bringing a whore into your house."

"Don't ever talk like that again. You made mistakes. It doesn't define who you are. You are what you want to be."

"But my mistakes as you call them have brought so much misery into your family."

Getting angrier, Adam snapped back. "It's not my family, it's our family. Do you love me?"

That one irritated Elaine. "Of course I love you. How could you even ask that question?"

"Well, I love you and I need you. I want you by my side for the rest of my life. Walking away from me won't help. It'll hurt me more than anything else that could happen."

"But what if you lose Jon because of me?"

"I will not lose Jon because of you. Together, we will defeat your father in all of his schemes. The judge knows the truth. Now, no more talk of doing anything drastic to our family."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I only wanted to help." Elaine started crying then, and Adam moved to her side and wrapped his arms around her.

"I know. I'm on edge with everything that's been happening. I shouldn't have snapped at you that way. I'm sorry. You just scared me so much talking that way. Know that I love Jon with my whole heart and my whole soul. But know too that I love you just as much. I don't love either of you any more than the other, and I will do everything I can to keep both of you safe from harm of any kind. Now can we get some sleep? It's been a long day, and we need to be in town early tomorrow. Anyway, I need to relax and try to sleep."

"I do know a good way to relax and fall asleep."

"Oh, you do, do you?"

"Yes, it involves removing clothing and some strong exertions, but I always sleep very well afterwards. It doesn't take too long either especially compared to lying in bed and tossing and turning and not being able to sleep."

"Perhaps you could teach me this method."

"Oh, I think you are well versed in it. It starts like this." Elaine began by passionately kissing her husband as she let her gown slip to the floor. Soon the couple were wrapped in each other's arms and making love. They indeed did fall asleep after that and slept well until dawn.

Chapter 12

"You get everything worked out last night?"

Adam frowned a bit. Sometimes, it was difficult being married and living with his family. He knew they had probably been loud enough the previous night that Hoss knew they had been arguing but not loud enough that he could understand what had been said. "Yes, we're good."

"She's young, and she's got a lot to learn yet, but she loves you an awful lot."

"I know."

"You ain't the easiest man to be with, I reckon."

"She knew that before she married me."

"She loves Jon like he was born to her."

"Hoss, what is the point of all this?"

"She's probably gonna have a rough time of it in town today. People may say things, and she might have to hear some of it in court too."

"I know, and it makes me so angry that it is her father who is the cause of it all."

"Like as not, he blames you and her as well as the rest of us instead."

"I don't know how someone can claim to be a man of God and then do the things he does. I'd think he was crazy except he works out these devilish plots. I'm worried too about what Jon will have to discuss with the judge. He's been through a lot in the past year. He lost his mother, I was gone for months, and then I brought Elaine here and soon she was his stepmother. He's adjusted well, but I don't know how much more he can take."

"I know you're probably thinking on how it was for you when you was his age. But Adam, he's got the whole family here to love him and care for him. It ain't like it was for you. He still gets to be a boy and have fun. Lots of people have trouble in their lives. It makes em stronger."

"If that's the case, then you and I ought to be able to help Atlas with his job."

"Huh?"

Walking up behind Adam then as he stood and talked with Hoss, Elaine wrapped an arm around her husband's waist. "He's always getting these images of things he's read. Atlas had to hold up the world so he had to be very strong." She reached up to touch Adam's cheek. "Hoss is right. We may be tested today, but it will just prove how strong Cartwrights can be as long as the family is right there behind us."

"I wish it was the whole family. I haven't told Pa about all this trouble because he would feel awful sitting in that room unable to do anything, or worse, he would leave his hotel room before he's completely well."

Hoss nodded. He hadn't said anything to Joe or their father for the same reasons Adam had said. They had to handle this without Ben or Joe for the time being. Jon was walking down the stairs by then and rubbing his eyes.

"What's the matter, punkin, didn't you sleep well last night?"

"No, Mama and Papa were talking so loud they woke me up, and then this morning there was all sorts of noise and I woke up again. Papa, why do you and Mama make so much noise sometimes? It wakes me up."

Sipping coffee, Hoss nearly spit out the hot brew when he heard Jon's answer to his question. He just had to send a little dig to Adam for that one. "Yeah, Adam, why do you two make so much noise? It makes it hard for a man to sleep with all that noise, at night, in the morning, and who knows when else. Huh?"

"Yeah, Papa, huh?"

"Jon, your Uncle Hoss thinks he's being very funny, but it is just being rude. By following his lead, you're being rude too. It's not polite to ask a man about what he does in his bedroom."

Looking over at his uncle with a scowl, Jon faced him down. "Yeah, it's not polite. Uncle Hoss, you made me ask a bad thing."

"I'm sorry as all get out, Jon." With a wink that belied any apparent sincerity of his words, Hoss addressed his brother. "I'm so sorry, Adam, to have invaded your privacy like that. Just keep in mind, that I had cause to say what I did." That was enough to make Elaine blush, so Hoss suggested they all sit down to breakfast and talk about more pleasant things.

Looking out the window at the brown landscape, Jon had a question. "Papa, is it ever going to snow again?"

"I'm sure it will. Be thankful for the mild weather though. Without it, we'd be stranded here on the ranch and not able to go to town." Suddenly aware of how much better that might be, Adam shook his head.

Looking over at Adam, Hoss nodded when he caught Adam's eye. It would be so much better if everyone were trapped by the weather. It was unfortunate that nature wasn't helping them out with this problem. After breakfast, they bundled themselves into the carriage and headed to town. The ride to town was pleasant as Adam explained to Jon that he would be expected to talk with the judge again.

"Is it the same one?"

"It's the same one you talked to a few months ago. Yes, he wants to know about how things are at the Ponderosa now with our family. Your Aunt Julia says that we're not doing a good job with you, so the judge wants to hear from you about that."

"Am I supposed to tell him everything?"

"Only what he asks you. Why?"

"Well, you said it was rude to talk about what a man does in his bedroom, so I was wondering if I should say anything about you waking me up last night. Hey, you and Mama weren't having a fight, were you?"

"No, it wasn't a fight. We were discussing some things too loudly. We'll try not to do that any more."

"What were you discussing?"

"Elaine thought that maybe she should go away for a while so that your Aunt Julia wouldn't be so upset."

"No. You can't go away, Mama. I already had one Mama go away. You have to stay."

Wrapping an arm around Jon and pulling him close, Adam did his best to reassure him. "Your Mama isn't going anywhere. That's why I got a little loud last night. I told her that I needed her, and that she couldn't go away for any reason. You need her too so she's staying."

Looking over at Elaine, Jon had a question. "Why did you want to leave?"

Dropping her head before looking up and straight into Jon's eyes, Elaine was honest. "I did some things I shouldn't have done when I was younger. They were bad things. I will never do anything like that again, but some people might say something nasty to me because of it. They might even say things to you or to your father. It's the one big thing that your Aunt Julia holds against your father. She says that he brought a bad woman into the family, and that I shouldn't be your mother."

"You are my Mama forever and ever." Jon pulled away from Adam to hug Elaine and then rest his head against her with his long thin arms wrapped around her. "Please tell me you are never going to leave."

"I will do everything I can to be able to stay with you and your father. We're a family now, and no one is going to split us up."

"And if they try, then we should get Sheriff Roy to throw them in jail."

Hoss was grinning by then. "Hey, older brother, out of the mouths of babes, huh?"

"Papa, did Uncle Hoss just say I was a baby?"

"No, son, he didn't. Out of the mouths of babes is just a phrase people use when someone much younger than them is very wise."

"Oh, good, cause I'm not a baby, dadburnit."

Hoss nearly fell off the front seat of the carriage with that one, and Adam and Elaine began laughing. As they drove into town, they were all in an upbeat mood. As they passed the hotel, they waved as Hoss slowed the carriage. Very quickly, both sets of curtains were pulled aside, and they got to see Joe and their father standing at the windows smiling down at them. Jon stood and waved again grinning because he was so happy to see his grandfather and his uncle. He had been told that they were all right because he didn't understand what quarantine meant, and he worried too that he was being told only part of the truth. As he saw them, he was greatly relieved. Soon the group was at the courthouse. Roy was waiting for them and walked in with them.

Inside the courtroom, Julia was waiting but so was Cargill and a number of men from his miners' association. They were prepared to give a list of reasons why Adam should not be able to keep custody of his son. The judge made all of them wait as he asked Jon to come into his chambers with him. Jon looked back once at Adam who smiled at him and nodded. Bolstered by his father's confidence, Jon walked with the judge back into his chambers which really was a simple office that he used when he was in town.

In the courtroom, Elaine approached her father. "Father, why are you doing this to hurt a small boy and so many innocent people?"

"It is you who have caused this by your wanton lifestyle and ways."

"Father, I made a mistake. I was sorry for it right away, but then I had no way out. I wrote to you and asked you to come save me. You never came. Adam was the one who saved me."

"You cannot be saved after all you have done. Your soul is forever stained and can only be cleansed by the fires of hell itself."

Adam had wanted to intervene and stop the conversation. Well, actually he wanted to beat the man to a bloody pulp for what he was saying, but Hoss had an iron grip on his arm and wouldn't let him even stand. Hoss whispered furiously in his ear to keep him quiet too. "Boy, you gotta let this play out. These things needed to be said for a long time now. If Elaine had any doubt that she could be ever make peace with her father, then this is teaching her different. And look at his friends. They're getting themselves an earful too. Even if Roy don't arrest him, he's losing his allies. No real man, no matter how angry he is, wants to follow a loose cannon like him. I got an idea about an offer we can make to these men too to settle things down for a month. You think we can spare about five thousand dollars?"

"You can't bribe a few hundred men with that amount."

"You give me the go-ahead, and I think I can. Trust me?"

"You know I trust you with my life, but what do you have in mind?"

"I'll tell ya later. You need to be ready to give your wife a shoulder to cry on. I'm thinking she's gonna need one soon. I'll be back shortly."

Reverend Cargill had been busy listing all of Elaine's sins in great detail. Most of the men who had followed him in were slowly leaving the courtroom. He didn't notice at first until the twenty-five men who had walked in with him had dwindled to about fifteen. He turned and looked at those remaining.

"Your fellow miners do not have enough courage for this fight. Stay here with me to battle sin and corruption."

One of the miners who had left slipped back in the room and whispered to one of his best friends who asked him if it was true. The man nodded and his friend whispered to another and he to another and soon the whole group had left the courtroom. Only Adam and Elaine were still there sitting across from Reverend Cargill and Julia. None of them had any idea why all the miners had left except that Adam had a sneaking suspicion that Hoss and the money were at the base of it. That was confirmed about a half hour later when Hoss returned. He handed Adam a list of signatures.

"I just paid twenty dollars each to two hundred and fifty miners."

"Why?" Elaine had no idea what had happened.

"It's a retainer for their services. I hired them to be ready to go to work in our mine in January or February. They gotta stay out of trouble and not spend the money in a saloon. If they do what I said, I said that then I'd pay em another twenty in February unless they already got a job by then. If they get a job, they can still keep the twenty. I think the new miners association just fell apart."

Grinning, Adam slapped Hoss on the shoulder. "Now that is five thousand dollars well spent, brother. You sure are a smart one."

"Aw shucks, Adam, you woulda probably thought of it too except you was so worried about your wife and son. Now you can concentrate on that. I'll take care of the miners."

"And Pa when you have to tell him how you just spent our cash reserves for the winter."

"Dadburnit, Adam, you'll help me with that, won't you?"

"Don't worry. I have some ideas about how we can raise some cash if we need any."

All three were ignoring Reverend Cargill who sat sullenly with Julia. She too was wondering what was happening, but Cargill whispered to her and she looked more resolute. Hoss noticed and was glad he found out how easily she could be swayed against him to get what she wanted. In his heart, he wished her well, but at the same time, hoped that she would get some consequences for what she was doing. The judge walked back into the courtroom at that time with Jon.

"This is quite a remarkable boy. I thought so when I interviewed him last time, but if anything, he is more impressive now. He has a wonderful understanding of what a family is, and he has done well coping with the loss of his mother and the upheavals in his life over the past year. Now, is there someplace safe he could go while I question the other parties in this case?"

"Your Honor, he can come with me to the jail."

"Yes, as I understand it, he is a deputy in charge of a Mr. Hop's chickens. I believe that you meeting with your deputy in your office would be quite acceptable. We should be done here soon."

After looking to his father and getting reassurance that leaving with Sheriff Coffee was all right with him, Jon took Roy's hand as they left the courtroom together. The judge waited until the door closed behind them.

"Now, Jon and I had quite a conversation. Although it seems that his parents could work at being a little more circumspect in their activities at night, nothing seems amiss in this family. Mrs. Cartwright, I was well aware of your former occupation. Have you engaged in any such activities since you left that mining camp?" A bit embarrassed, Elaine said no. "Now, you are a very young woman to be parenting a five-year-old except there are many hundreds of women in Nevada who are probably doing the same. Have you felt that you have made the adjustments necessary to being a mother?"

"Yes, Your Honor. It has been difficult, and I made a few mistakes, but I've learned to follow my husband's lead in that, and we make parenting decisions together. I love Jon, and I only want the best for him."

"What if I told you that the best place for him was with his Aunt Julia?"

"Then my husband and I would have our attorneys do whatever they could to stop you, and I'm sure my father-in-law would be speaking to the state's governor about stopping that from ever happening."

"Do not fear, Mrs. Cartwright. I would never do that, but I had to test your commitment to being Jon's mother. I know how his father feels, but you were not Mrs. Cartwright when last we met in a courtroom. Now, I'm ready to rule. I see no merit in this petition, and I'm dismissing it. Furthermore, I am ruling that any similar petition be summarily rejected in the future. It is a waste of my time, a waste of your time, and a waste of the sheriff's time. Should any such petition be brought forward in the future, the offending parties will be considered in contempt of court and will receive an immediate sixty-day jail sentence to be served immediately. Do I make myself clear?"

Looking pointedly at Reverend Cargill and Julia, the judge got their affirmative answers before wishing Adam and Elaine well and telling them to take their son home. As the five exited the courtroom, Reverend Cargill stopped and addressed Adam and Elaine.

"This isn't over. You cannot humiliate me like this and get away with it."

"You're the one who did this. Leave us alone. I'll do whatever I have to do to protect my family." With that Adam and Elaine left the courthouse and headed to the sheriff's office to get their son. Hoss followed behind them with an occasional backwards glance to be sure nothing drastic was going to be done by Cargill.

Chapter 13

"Skies are starting to look right ugly. I'm betting we're gonna get hit with a lot of snow over the next few days."

Adam and Hoss were harnessing up the carriage. It was the day that Ben was released from his quarantine, but Doctor Martin did not want him riding Buck to get home. The plan was that Joe would bring Buck home, and Adam and Hoss would bring their father home in the carriage. They packed extra blankets, some food, and candles, matches, and an empty can. With the skies looking threatening, they wanted to be ready for anything. Hoss put a small shovel in the boot of the carriage before he and Adam climbed in for the ride to town. Hop Sing's cousins were in the back. Hop Sing had declared that they were no longer needed and that he was once again the master of the kitchen. No one argued with the cook when he talked like that. Adam dropped the two men off at the Chinese section of town handing each of them an envelope with their salary and a bonus. When Adam and Hoss got to the hotel, they were surprised to see their father already in the lobby. It was still early.

"Pa, didn't Doc Martin tell ya to sleep in today so you'd be rested for the trip home?"

"I did, Hoss, as well as I could. You can ask Joe. I stayed in bed while he dressed and packed, but I couldn't sleep any more. I want to get home, and one look at those skies and we knew we should hurry." Ben smiled as he saw Hoss look longingly at the dining room. "I had them pack some doughnuts and some hotcakes with applesauce wrapped inside. Joe has the basket. Now, can we get going?"

As Hoss and Ben talked, Adam walked in carrying coats for Ben and Joe. It had been a milder day when they had first ridden to town, and they would need the warmer clothing for the trip back.

"Thank you for the coat, older brother. Did you think to bring my gloves?"

"In the pocket, little brother. Now, we really need to get going. I have a son who is very anxious to see his grandpa and his fun uncle."

"Oh-oh."

Hoss was the first to see Sheriff Roy Coffee headed their way. He was walking with that deliberate stride he only had when he was on business. Otherwise he would have sauntered up to them as if he hadn't been looking for them in order to greet them and see them on their way. Roy had news.

"Adam, I got some good news and some bad news. I did order that Reverend Cargill to leave town. The judge didn't think the word of three criminals was enough to get a conviction for conspiracy especially as Cargill claimed he had only been speaking in possibilities and not encouraging them to do anything in particular. When I talked to them three, I knew they would never be good enough as witnesses. It would have been one of those reasonable doubt cases."

"So is that the good news or the bad?" Adam was a bit short with Roy but all of them knew why. His frustration level and his anger with what the Reverend had done so far had him on edge.

"Well, yes it is. He's left town. The sorry thing is, I don't know how or when that happened. He checked out of the hotel but I can't figure as how he left town. He didn't take the stage or the train, and at the livery stables, they're claiming he didn't rent nor buy a horse."

"Well he didn't just walk out of town!"

"I know that, son, but that means he's still got somebody helping him. Somebody must a given him a ride out of town. I'd feel a whole sight better ifn I knew where he was."

Nodding because he would have liked to know the whereabouts of his adversary, Adam thanked Roy for his efforts and climbed into the carriage to drive as Hoss sat in back with their father. Hoss was enjoying the treats his father had thought to provide for him, but Ben had a question.

"Is anyone going to tell me what's been going on around here with Cargill and the others?" After nearly an hour, Hoss and Adam finished telling the story including as much detail as they could remember. "Why didn't anyone tell me anything about this before?"

"Pa, you know why. Ifn we had, you woulda come out of your bed and infected lots of people and maybe some of your own family. It woulda been bad for you, and me and Adam handled things."

"Yes, you and Adam handled things for five thousand dollars."

"Pa, that wasn't just for us. Hoss had a great idea. It's calmed down the whole community. The miners' association that was pushing to kick the Chinese out of town has disbanded. There's a lot less anger fueling any more foolish action. Besides, after I talked to them, some of the Chinese have been giving away some of the sweet candies to soothe the throat and some of that thick spicy tea they use. With all the influenza cases in town, that's been a real blessing to a lot of people."

"I could have used some of those sweet lozenges."

"We sent over your favorite hard candies. It was a couple of days before the Chinese were giving away the throat lozenges. You were already getting better by then."

"Adam, on another note, how is Jon handling all of this?"

With a deep sigh that communicated his worry as well as any words could have, Adam thought a moment before responding. "Better than I expected. He hasn't had any nightmares. He has been getting up early and knocking on our door. I think he wants to make sure we're both still here."

"Why would he worry about that?"

So then Adam had to explain about Elaine's offer to leave in order to keep Jon safe from anything Reverend Cargill might try to do.

"That must be the greatest fear he has then. Barbara went away, and then you were gone for months, which must have seemed like an eternity to Jon as young as he was. I could understand why he was worried. I suppose that Joe and I being gone was a concern for him as well?"

"Yes, a couple of days ago when we had the hearing, he was so thrilled to see you at the window waving. It reinforced what we had said about you getting better but having to stay at the hotel because of a quarantine order. He still has trouble understanding the idea of quarantine. Hopefully, he won't ever have to worry about that again."

"What we got to worry about is this snow, Pa. It's getting heavier. Maybe I ought to ride Buck in?"

Knowing the carriage would move faster without the extra weight, and that Joe would have an easier ride without having to lead Buck, Adam stopped the carriage almost immediately to let Hoss get out. The wind was rising rapidly too causing a delay in explaining to Joe that Hoss would ride Buck the rest of the way. Ben wanted to help, but Adam told him the biggest help he could be would be to stay bundled up in the back so that Adam could concentrate on the driving. Ben was irritated at the tone of his son's voice, but did realize circumstances had Adam on edge. He settled back into the seat and pulled the blankets up to his neck shivering a little in the unaccustomed chill. The team was struggling with the slippery road, and Adam had a daunting job keeping the carriage on the track that was rapidly filling with snow. Hoss and Joe rode to the front of the carriage to use their horses to help guide the team. Finally Hoss called a stop and looped a rope around the collar of one horse as Joe did the same on the other side. They would lead the team back to the ranch. It kept all of them together too. Buck and Cochise broke a trail through the deepening snow making the carriage track better on the snow filled road. Visibility had decreased dramatically but is was easier for Hoss and Joe to see the road from their vantage point in front than it would be for Adam from the seat of the carriage. The last part of the trip, which should have taken fifteen minutes, took nearly an hour with heavier and heavier snowfall, rising winds, and plummeting temperatures. Once they reached the yard of the Ponderosa, Hoss and Joe led the carriage as close to the front door as they could. As Adam helped Ben out of the carriage, Hoss and Joe unhitched the team and led them and their mounts to the stable.

As Ben and Adam entered the house, they were met by Elaine and Hop Sing who looked extremely worried. Adam wrapped a snowy arm around Elaine. "It's all right, sweetheart, we're all home safe and sound."

"Adam, Jon's missing!"

"What?"

"When it started to snow, I asked Jon if he had fed the chickens today. With all of the excitement and anticipation of his grandfather coming home, he had forgotten. He put on his hat and coat. I tied a rope around his waist like you said to do if it was snowing hard. It wasn't snowing that much, but I wanted to be careful. I watched him from the kitchen door. He fed the chickens and gathered eggs. When he was walking back to the house, I turned around to tell Hop Sing it looked like he had a full basket of eggs. When I looked back, he was gone."

"How could he be gone?"

"The rope was loose and the egg basket was on the ground. The eggs were smashed like the basket had been thrown down. Candy and the men are out looking for him. Oh, Adam, I'm so scared and so sorry."

As Adam turned to leave, Ben asked where he was going. He said he was going to get Hoss and look for Jon. Ben turned to Elaine then and wrapped an arm around her. "He's as scared as you are. Don't worry, Adam and Hoss are two of the best trackers in all of Nevada."

"But with the snow, how will they ever find any tracks?"

"If there are any out there, they'll find them."

Outside the wind tore at Adam as he made his way to the stable. Once inside, he gathered up a large coil of rope as he explained to Hoss and Joe what he knew. Hoss grabbed rope too and the brothers quickly headed to the area of the chicken coop. They tied one rope to a tree there and began heading out in the most likely direction anyone would have gone if they wanted to leave that part of the property. Reaching the end of the first rope, they tied the second rope to it and moved to the grove of trees behind the house where they walked slowly looking for any sign of Jon. Adam's heart nearly pounded out of his chest when he found Jon's deputy badge lying up against a tree. Even as Adam tried to surreptitiously wipe tears from his eyes, Hoss continued to search under the trees where the snow had barely filtered through the heavy branches. He found footprints of at least two individuals who were not wearing cowboy boots. He followed them to the edge of the grove where they disappeared into the snow. Adam was by his side then.

"Adam, we know now that it was people who took him and not a cougar or some other wild critter. I was worried about that most. We'll get him back, brother, we'll get him back."

"Hoss, we know who it is. Now we need to know where he is and what he wants with my son."

Almost like a snowy mirage, four men materialized out of the snowstorm. Candy and three of the hands had followed a trail as far as they could. When they saw Adam and Hoss, the men dismounted. Candy moved to them and reported what they had found. "I figured you'd get this far. We followed wagon tracks as far as we could. Once they got to the road, we knew where they were headed, but then we couldn't find them. They must have turned off somewhere. With all this snow, it was impossible to tell. We had some trouble finding our way back here. We missed the turnoff and we thought we were hopelessly lost until we smelled wood smoke. The wind was whipping it around pretty well but it was enough of a clue to get us back."

Speechless with worry, Adam stood stiffly not knowing what he should do. The pain of not knowing where Jon was had him frozen to the spot where he had found the deputy badge his son treasured. Hoss took his arm. "Let's go back to the house and figure out what we're gonna do next."

Chapter 14

It was so cold. Adam didn't think he could ever be warm again. The trip from town and the search outside had chilled his extremities but it was the loss of his son that had frozen his heart and soul. Hoss had physically restrained him twice when he wanted to leave to search for his son in the midst of a severe Sierra snowstorm.

"Adam, it ain't gonna do no good for Jon. When we find him, how we gonna tell him his father is frozen somewhere out there and we'll find him in spring. I know it's hard, but we gotta wait for a break in the weather. We're all set to go as soon as that happens. You know we're all going with you, dontcha?"

Each time, Adam had heard the sound of Hoss' voice but the meaning in his words took a long time to penetrate his consciousness. Then he had nodded and stood by the fire again trying to get warm but that was an impossible task as long as his son was missing. It was dark before there was a break in the storm. Elaine was sitting by Adam's side as he numbly stared into the fire. They had talked earlier and neither was satisfied with the results.

"You blame me for Jon being gone."

"I don't blame you. I know who took him."

"You say you don't, but you do. Why don't you just admit it and get it out."

"All right, I can't help it. I left him in your care and he's missing. I know it's not fair, and it's unreasonable, but it's how I feel. My head is telling me I'm all wrong, but my heart is hurting so much that it doesn't accept reason. There, is that good enough for you?"

"I feel the same way. It's my fault."

"Damn, it isn't." Elaine's tears moved Adam. He wrapped an arm around her and then his own tears couldn't be held back. His father and brothers had wanted to intervene, but they knew this was something that had to be worked out between husband and wife, father and mother to a missing son. As Adam and Elaine consoled each other, Ben whispered to Hoss.

"Saddle the horses. It sounds like the wind is dying down."

"Pa, you can't come with us. Paul said you had to take it easy for the next few weeks."

"Hoss, my grandson is missing and some fanatic has most likely taken him. I will not sit here and wait for news."

Joe stepped forward. "If you go, you could slow us down. If we have to take the time to bring you back here because you're coughing so hard you can't sit your horse, then we lose what little time we may have." Joe had spent the previous week tending to his father during his illness. He, better than anyone, knew that Ben wasn't ready for this quest.

Ben looked at Joe and Hoss knowing he would have to stay home. "I'll have lanterns lit and placed along the road to guide you back."

Hoss walked out to the stable to saddle horses as Joe went to get extra blanket rolls and canteens of hot coffee. Within a short time, Hoss was back and walked to Adam. With a hand on Adam's shoulder, he got his attention. "It's time to go. We got a break in the storm, but it may not last long. It's all we got. Candy and two of the hands are going with us to show us how far they tracked that wagon before they lost the trail. Pa and the other hands are gonna light this place up and put lanterns along the road so we can get back home when we find Jon."

Standing, Adam kissed Elaine softly. "I'll bring our boy back home. Keep the place warm and have a warm bath ready. He may need it." Elaine nodded even as her lip quivered. She had dealt with many difficult situations in her life, but this was by far the most painful thing she could imagine.

The weather was better than when it had been storming but there was at least six inches of snow that had fallen and blown into large drifts in some places. The low hanging clouds were enough evidence that the storm wasn't over even if its fury had abated temporarily. The men talked little as they worked their way to the spot where Candy and the others had lost the wagon tracks earlier. "They got to the road about here. We followed for about two miles and then suddenly there were no tracks. With the snow, we missed them turning off. By then the storm was too much for us to find anything so we turned back. That's it."

Hoss and Adam took the lead then and after two miles, they had seen nothing. "Adam, there ain't no likely place to turn off for most of this stretch."

"I was thinking the same thing. We need to look for a place where they may have lost control and run off the road. Anyone unfamiliar with this stretch of road could easily do that."

Hearing what the brothers had said, the group split up to ride the side of the road and down below the road as well. After they had gone about a half-mile back, they heard a gunshot. Looking down the hill, Adam saw Hoss signaling them to come down the hill. His heart pounding in his chest, he circled around some boulders and began the descent. What he saw made his heart pound almost painfully. Hoss and two others were pulling snow away from an overturned wagon. As Adam got there, they pulled Julia's body away from the broken buckboard. It appeared her neck was broken. Next, Hoss reached under and pulled out a bundle. Adam dropped from his horse and ran to Hoss just as he turned and smiled.

"He's cold as can be, but he's alive."

Hoss handed Jon over to Adam who pulled him into his arms. He quickly determined that Jon was unable to move or respond much because of the cold. He unbuttoned his coat and pulled his son inside his coat before buttoning it up again. He had lost weight with all the stresses of the previous year, and his son was still thin enough so that he could fit inside. Adam walked to his horse and got help from Joe in mounting up. Joe took a bedroll and unrolled it wrapping it around his brother and his precious cargo. Hoss yelled over that they should ride for home, and he would get Cargill out. As he said it, snow began to fall in earnest again as the wind picked up. Cargill was cold as well but otherwise appeared uninjured. Hoss unhitched the surviving horse from the wagon and told Cargill to mount up as best he could.

"Follow us. We have to get back to the ranch before this gets any worse."

Hoss mounted up then and waved for the other men to do the same. Cargill was on his own as far as Hoss was concerned. No one there was going to risk his life to ensure Cargill's safety. As they rode, they caught up with Adam and Joe who had to ride more slowly because Adam was holding Jon up against his body trying to warm him. Hoss reached for Adam's reins.

"Let us lead Sport. You hang onto Jon and stay in the saddle. We'll get you both home."

Then with Hoss leading Sport, Joe rode to one side and Candy to the other shielding Adam and Jon from the worst of the winds and allowing Adam to keep the blanket more tightly wrapped around the two of them. When they reached the yard of the Ponderosa, Hoss led Sport as close to the front door as he could. Then Joe and Candy helped Adam slide from the saddle with Jon. As Adam walked into the house with the snow crusted blanket around him, Ben and Elaine gasped thinking he had returned without Jon. Adam dropped the blanket though as soon as the door was closed so they could see Jon's pants and boots dangling beneath Adam's coat.

"He's very cold, and he hasn't said a word since we found him."

Elaine was at their side immediately. "Hop Sing has a warm bath ready. He said if not for Jon, then the searchers would like it."

"Help me. I can barely feel my fingers."

Ben helped Adam unbutton his coat and drop it to the floor. Jon wouldn't let go though. He had his arms around his father and wouldn't relinquish his grip. Adam walked to the washroom carrying his son. Once there, he sat on a bench.

"Jon, we have to get you in the bath to warm you up."

"No, stay with you." They were the first words spoken by the boy, and they indicated that he understood what was happening around him. That was a good sign, but they needed to get him in the bathtub.

"Adam, remember how you got Little Joe to take baths when he was about this age?"

Smiling as he remembered, Adam was grateful for the reminder. "Jon if you get in the bathtub, we can play with those sailing boats I have in my room. Would you like that?"

As Jon nodded enthusiastically, Adam asked Elaine to go get the boats. "Aren't they rather expensive to use like this?"

"No cost is too great to help our son."

Smiling, Elaine left the washroom to go get the boats. When she returned a short time later, Adam had gotten Jon undressed and into the tub. Ben had helped a lot because Adam's fingers were still stiff from the cold. Adam told Jon to submerge everything but his head. Then he put the two boats in the water. Ben nodded and left as Elaine brought in tea and small sandwiches that Hop Sing had prepared. Jon had said nothing more which Adam found odd, but he wasn't going to pressure him at this point. Instead he asked for another kettle of hot water to warm the bath. He relaxed as he saw Jon's cheeks becoming a healthy shade of pink. After about an hour, he asked Jon if he was ready to get out of the bath. Jon was tired by then and said he was ready to get out. Hoss and Joe had both stopped in to see how he was doing and grinned broadly to see that he had no apparent ill effects from being trapped under the buckboard for hours in the storm. Apparently the snow had insulated the space under the overturned wagon, and body heat from Cargill had helped keep Jon alive. Adam could almost have been grateful for that except that Cargill was the cause of Jon being in the precarious predicament. After pulling a nightshirt over Jon and wrapping a robe around him, Adam was going to lead him out to the main room.

"No, I want you to hold me."

At first thinking that Jon was a bit old for that, Adam relented almost immediately picking Jon up in his arms. Jon wrapped his arms around Adam's neck and his legs around his waist. That's how they walked out and sat on the settee in front of the fireplace. Elaine brought a warm blanket and draped over the two of them before sitting beside them. There were smiles all around until Adam asked a question.

"Where's Cargill?"

Hoss shrugged and Joe looked away. "We don't know. Joe and me were mostly interested in getting you and Jon home. I unhitched the one horse from the wagon team that was still alive. I told Cargill to ride it and follow us back here. When we finally looked for him, he wasn't there."

"Where did he go?"

"Adam, we been talking about it. He knew he was in a lot of trouble after this. We think he tried to get away."

"You don't think he made it."

"Adam, how could he? The snow was falling hard, and the wind picked up. He was already cold from the hours they spent out there."

"Hoss, all I know is that he's been able to do an awful lot. I won't rest easy until I know what became of him."

"He did a bad thing to Aunt Julia." Jon had turned his head toward Elaine. He spoke softly but it was loud enough for all to hear him.

Adam squeezed his son a bit tighter but had to ask. "Jon, what did he do to Aunt Julia?"

"When we fell off the road, she said we should go back here. She said it wasn't right to risk my life to prove something. He got real mad at her, and they started yelling at each other. He grabbed her then. She tried to get away. He shook her real hard. Then she fell down and didn't move. He said she was dead. He said we would be too if we didn't get under the wagon while it snowed. He had some blankets there that he had used to hold me until we fell off the road. He lit a candle too, but it disappeared after a while."

"Well, older brother, I don't suppose the Reverend Cargill was willing to come back here to face what he done."

"When the storm runs its course, we should go out to get Julia's body. She should get a proper burial even after what she did. I think she was under the influence of Cargill and thought she was doing the right thing." Ben was being as generous as he could be. He was greatly relieved that his whole family was together and safe. It was very late, and everyone was exhausted. Ben suggested they all head up to bed. No one was going to be able to do anything to them while the storm raged outside the walls of their home.

Adam tried to get Jon to sleep in his bedroom, but the trauma was too fresh. He wouldn't allow his father out of his sight. Somewhat apologetically, Adam told Elaine that there would be three of them in the bed that night. She agreed it was the best solution for one night but told Adam he needed to wear a nightshirt. Then she grinned and told him that longjohns were an even better idea. With a wry grin because he had a very good idea of what she was thinking, Adam agreed. He lay in the middle of the bed with an arm around Jon who snuggled up to him and rested his head on Adam's shoulder. Elaine lay on Adam's other side. He kissed Elaine, and then kissed Jon on the forehead before closing his eyes and relaxing. Sleep came quickly for all of them then.

Epilogue

Reverend Cargill's body was never found. On the very slim chance that the man had survived, Sheriff Roy Coffee issued some wanted posters for Reverend David Cargill for murder and kidnapping. That spring, it was found too that someone had lived in Julia's house for several months at least. When Adam and Hoss went to the house to prepare it for sale, they found the evidence that someone had inhabited the house for the winter months and removed anything of value in the house when they left. The house and other property were sold and the proceeds went into investments for Jon. On a business trip to San Francisco, Adam hired a detective agency to see if they could find Cargill. He got a letter from them in the middle of the summer. Much to his father's displeasure and to his wife's confusion, Adam announced suddenly that he had business in Bend, Oregon. Hoss walked up behind Adam and said he had business there too.

"What business do you have up in Bend?"

"Same as you, older brother, and I aim to see you follow all the rules in taking care of it too." Hoss had been in town when Adam received the letter from the detective agency. Hoss had seen the return address, and he had seen the look on Adam's face when he read the letter.

However, their enigmatic conversation left everyone else in the family wondering what was happening. Jon asked his father how long he would be gone. Adam told him no more than two weeks, and Jon relaxed. He had come out of his traumatic experience with little aftereffects, but he didn't like the idea of his father being gone even for a few hours. He was sleeping in his own room again, although on occasion, he had a nightmare. Doctor Martin said that with the love and attention of his family, those nightmares would diminish and end over time. Adam asked Elaine and his father to help Jon until he could return. They agreed of course knowing that when Adam was like this, no one could pry anything out of him.

The next morning, Adam and Hoss rode out heading north. Two weeks later, looking like saddle tramps seeking work, they returned home. Adam announced that they had successfully concluded their business and wouldn't be talking about it. About a week later, a newspaper from Portland, Oregon was delivered to the offices of the Territorial Enterprise in Virginia City. In a front-page story, it was reported that Reverend David Cargill, under the alias of David Meyer, had been living and working in Bend. He had apparently committed suicide south of that city. The Reverend's gun was in his hand with one bullet fired, and he had a large hole in the middle of his face. The story went on to say that wanted posters with his face, the charges against him, and the reward for his capture were strewn on the ground around him. The newspaper version of events was that he had found that the authorities were closing in and had shot himself in the head. No one questioned that telling of the story even as thousands read it. Dan DeQuille read that story and waited for the Cartwrights to visit town so he could get a reaction from them on the story. Remarkably none of them seemed surprised, and none had any comment either. Dan watched Adam walk away with his wife by his side and his son walking in front of them. Dan decided that justice had probably been done and in a fitting manner. Hoss looked back as Dan watched the family walk away. Hoss nodded, and Dan knew. No one should ever threaten or harm a member of the Cartwright family. They protected their own.


End file.
